The Darkholme Legacy
by LadyV77
Summary: New chapter: Magneto and Mystique discuss their daughter, Marie and Logan attempt to be domestic. Rating for language and violence. RogueLogan pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **The Darkholme Legacy

**Author:** LadyV77

**Summary: **Logan leaves to find out more about his past after the events on the Statue of Liberty, and a disillusioned Rogue leaves the mansion to find her own path. PG-13 for language and violence.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Marvel, so obviously I don't own the X-Men.

**Archive: **FFN, (WRFAwhen it's done), ask me.

**Spoilers/Continuity: **Set immediately after X1 (starts during X1), includes many spoilers from X2.

**Author's Notes: **My own twist on Rogue leaving the X-Mansion and joining the Brotherhood. And yes, I checked my Statue of Liberty facts, the Statue _is_ 305 feet tall.

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"_Somebody help him_!" Rogue screamed when the wounds on Logan's body started releasing rivulets of blood.

Below and across from her, she could see Cyclops and Jean Grey looking for a way to get to them while Storm rose into the air using her control of the weather. Instead of landing near Rogue and Logan, however, the white-haired woman called forth a fog to surround the torch and the part of the Statue of Liberty Cyclops and Jean were on. No one would be able to see the activity from below now, Rogue realized vaguely. But how could she possibly care about witnesses when the man she loved might be dying?

Logan's voice inside her head told her to break free of her bonds. Rogue fisted her bare hands and pulled with all her might. The combined might of her will and Logan's borrowed strength. Though the metal cuffs dug into her wrists, breaking the delicate skin and smearing blood on her pale flesh, the tethers attaching the cuffs to Magneto's machine eventually snapped, allowing her to move toward her savior's still body.

Rogue collapsed beside him on her knees, relieved beyond anything she had words for when she saw that his pulse still beat in the hollow of his neck. Carefully, she pulled his upper body by the sholders of his uniform so that his head was resting in her lap. She took the scarf from around her neck and pressed it against as many of Logan's wounds as she could. Tears slipped from her eyes at the evidence of self-inflicted wounds he had chosen to cause in order to save her from Erik (calling him Magneto when he was in her head was way too formal). She would recognize the pattern of those sets of three stab wounds anywhere.

Logan had brought her back from the dead; she knew that from his memories of the time leading up to when she had opened her eyes, gasping for breath. And he had done it knowing it might mean his own death.

She tried to dig into Logan's memories to see why he would go that far to keep his promise to her, but Erik's personality surfaced and the memories of the two men, and some she recognized as ones she had picked up before ever meeting Logan, clashed. With effort, she suppressed the jumbled mix of images and voices and concentrated on the here and now.

With a rush of cold air, Storm landed beside her.

"Is he..."

"He's alive," Rogue answered, cutting off the older woman. She really didn't want to think about what was still a possibility. If she lost him, she would break. "But it took too much to revive me, he isn't healing and all the wounds he got in the fight with Sabretooth are back."

Just then Jean and Cyclops joined them. Jean knelt beside Rogue and unthinkingly laid a comforting hand on the younger woman's fist. The connection had just barely started when Rogue snatched her bare hand away.

"Don't!" she growled.

Logan's affection for the redhead made her feel guilty about her abruptness, but she really didn't want anyone else vying for dominance of her mind at the moment. Especially this woman who, unwillingly or not, was her rival in the affections of the man now lying unconscious and bleeding in her lap. Rogue knew the physical attraction Logan felt for Jean was not present in his thoughts about her, but she also knew they all thought she was younger than she really was. She just hoped he would live long enough for her to find out if her true age changed anything for him.

"Sorry," Jean said softly. "I wasn't thinking."

Rogue nodded dismissively and Jean quickly looked over Logan's injuries.

"We need to get him to the Blackbird as soon as possible, Scott," the doctor told her fiancé.

Cyclops looked down over 300 feet to where the Blackbird was barley visible, resting quietly on the water. He frowned and glanced at Storm.

"I can't fly him that far," she said apologetically, correctly guessing what he was going to suggest. "It's too dangerous and I believe Jean has exhausted herself too much to try to stabilize him for that long."

Rogue clamped down on the panic rising in her chest and squeezed her eyes shut. While Cyclops and Jean debated the best way to get Logan down off the statue, Rogue took a deep breath and pulled Erik to the front of her mind. Surprisingly, the echo of the man who had almost – well, actually he _had_ – killed her was happy for the opportunity to make it up to her.

Rogue opened her eyes so she could make sure she was headed in the right direction and told the three X-Men in cultured European tones, "Steady yourselves."

She couldn't see Cyclop's eyes behind his visor, but Jean gave her a startled look. She felt Jean try to probe her mind, something both Logan and Erik protested loudly.

"Please stop," Rogue begged the other woman in her own softly-accented voice. "Let me do what I can to help him while I still have the chance."

Jean hesitated only a moment before nodding. Rogue glanced at Scott; the X-Men's leader gave her a small 'go ahead' dip of his head as well. Rogue refused to let go of Logan completely, lifting only one hand from the now blood-soaked scarf and motioning to what was left of the machine that so recently had drained the life from her.

After a moment of merely shaking, the metal pieces broke free, flying harmlessly into the dark ocean far below. Rogue took another deep breath and concentrated on the metal platform they were on. A streak of incredible pain flashed through her head, but with Erik and Logan's help, she pushed it aside for later. With a terrible metallic creak, they broke free of the Statue of Liberty, hovering in the air.

Storm lifted off again, saying softly to Rogue, "Follow me, child."

Using the weather witch's brilliant hair as a beacon, Rogue levitated and propelled the platform until it bobbed gently in the water beside the Blackbird. Knowing it would sink the moment she let go, Rogue reluctantly motioned for Jean and Cyclops to carry Logan away from her and into the jet. As soon as they were inside, she created a magnetic energy field around herself and levitated above their temporary transportation. She let go of her control of it, watching it sink instantly into the water.

For a split second she reveled in the feel of the air brushing against her everywhere. So this is what it was like to fly. She felt giddy for a moment. But Logan was injured and it was her fault and they needed to get him back to the mansion. Rogue landed lightly just inside the door and shut down all the magnetic powers she had been using.

Rogue staggered, physically drained of energy. Erik and his cronies hadn't expected her to survive the machine on the torch, so they hadn't fed her, and fear had robbed her of any chance at sleep once the sedative had worn off.

Someone inside her head, '_they_' wouldn't let her know who, bolstered her internally. Warmth flowed through her, encasing her just under the layer of her skin. It almost felt like a hug, like someone who loved her was trying to comfort her. It was such a welcome but unexpected feeling that tears pricked her eyes.

Shaking off the introspection, Rogue chose the seat closest to where Jean was bandaging Logan as Cyclops lay in the course back to the mansion. Storm was assisting Jean. Rogue felt a little left out, wanting to help Logan, but she knew without gloves she would only end up hurting someone. So she curled into her seat and watched Jean and Storm while the people in her head fought. Though the jet made the flight back to Westchester very short, it still seemed to take forever to Rogue.

Rogue followed at a careful distance as Logan was carried to the lab to be placed on the examining table beside the one Xavier occupied, still unconscious. She cringed from the smells of sterilizer and disinfectant. Jean efficiently cleaned Logan's wounds after cutting him from his torn and bloodied uniform.

Rogue's stomach rolled when she saw all the wounds Logan had suffered because of her, but she kept herself under control. She knew the others had been trying to save the dignitaries Erik had been trying to turn into mutants, but Logan hadn't come to play hero to the faceless masses. He had risked his life to save hers. Because he had made a promise. And no matter what he didn't know about himself, he knew he was a man of his word.

After a couple minutes, Cyclops noticed her lurking out of the way in the corner. He left the room and came back with a pair of X-Men team sweats, a pullover sweater and a pair of leather gloves that had silver piping, signifying that they matched Storm's uniform. He handed the bundle over to her carefully and wordlessly indicated a screen on the other side of the room.

Rogue knew if she opened her mouth she'd start to cry, so she thanked him with her eyes. Somehow Cyclops knew that she didn't want to be away from Logan. Not until she knew he was going to be fine. That he hadn't really sacrificed his life for hers. Rogue hurried to the relative privacy of the area behind the screen and changed her clothes quickly. Her own clothes had been stained with Logan's blood and she reluctantly tossed them into the trash. It was a physical ache to get rid of the hooded coat she had been wearing when and Logan had first met.

There was a sink with a small mirror above it in the corner and Rogue moved forward to wash her face. She caught sight of herself and froze. Something white had fluttered in her line of vision a few times on the Statue of Liberty after Logan had revived her, but she had never registered that it was a part of her. But now Rogue could clearly see in the mirror that a fair portion of the hair framing her face had turned white. Had Erik's machine done this to her? She fingered the white strands carefully for a moment before tucking them back behind her ears.

Rogue was struck by the realization that her changed hair color wasn't the only thing that made her appear older. Her eyes reflected what she had been through, as well as what a few of the people in her head had been through. Anyone who truly looked at her would never mistake her for a girl again.

When she had washed her face, Rogue came out from behind the screen to find herself alone with Jean and the two unconscious men. Logan was clean and bandaged, and two IVs, one with blood and the other a clear liquid Rogue couldn't identify, were feeding into his arm. There were also a couple monitors hooked up to her hero, keeping track of his breathing and pulse. It hurt her to see him looking so helpless. Why wasn't his healing factor kicking back in yet?

Rogue thought about asking Jean if she had a theory yet, but she wasn't quite ready to hear that it was her fault from someone other than herself and the voices in her head. Prepared to argue her way into staying with Logan until he woke, Rogue was surprised to note that someone had brought a comfortable chair into the room and placed it by Logan's bed. A blanket and pillow had also been thoughtfully provided. The blanket and pillow from the room she had only shared with two other girls a couple nights before she had been kidnapped.

Jean smiled a sad little smile at Rogue. "Need me to give you a once over?"

Rogue shook her head, fidgeting with the gloves that were a little big on her hands.

"Logan..." she choked out, slamming her mouth shut again when sobs threatened to escape.

Jean gave Rogue a sympatheitc, understanding look when she trailed off. The red-haired doctor motioned to the phone on the wall.

"If you need anything or if there's any sort of change in either one of them, please page me immediately."

Rogue nodded and Jean turned to check Xavier's vitals once more before turning away.

As the older woman reached the door, Rogue called out softly, "Thank you, Jean."

Jean gave her another small smile and a nod before leaving. Rogue wandered over to Logan and looked down at his peaceful face. She sighed, knowing that if he didn't pull out of this, she would never forgive herself. Her body once again reminded her of how exhausted she was, and Rogue sank into the chair someone had brought in for her.

Rogue was fairly sure it was Cyclops. He was more than just Fearless Leader of the X-Men, he was the school's second father figure after Xavier, and with the Professor out of commission for the time being, Cyclops was taking on the full responsibilities instead of just his own share. Her sudden insight seemed strange for a split second before remembering Jean's brief touch back at the Statue of Liberty. She must have picked something up from the redhead after all.

Rogue curled her feet up under her and lay her head on the pillow at an angle from which she could still watch Logan. After a few minutes, her eyes drifted shut and she just stopped herself from screaming. The voices in her head were fighting again, taking advantage of her lowered guard. Pain sliced through her head and for a moment it felt like one of the other personalities was suffocating her. Tears escaping from the effort, Rogue stood abruptly and paced the area between Logan and Xavier's beds.

Xavier looked as peaceful as Logan, and Rogue was surprised at the tender affection she felt through Erik's presence in her mind. Though the two men were on opposite sides in the mutants versus the-rest-of-humanity debate, they had once been dear friends, and Erik still regretted their parting of ways. Since he was behaving, Rogue allowed Erik to dominate the other voices in her head. But her inner Logan didn't like that one bit and he let her know it. Control slipped again, eliciting more pain in the form of the other voices struggling against her consciousness, as well as against Erik and Logan's.

'_Get out of my head_,' she wanted to scream but couldn't. If anyone heard her, they would want to help her, and Rogue knew they couldn't. She wasn't sure anyone could, except perhaps Xavier, but he was out of commission. Rogue glanced over at the older man again.

If she touched Xavier, maybe his power could help her. Xavier was powerful. He had power that he was unwilling to use because he was so concerned about becoming what he fought against. It was one of the things that Erik had always resented about Xavier, even when they had been the best of friends: that Xavier had the power to change minds but he refused to do it. If Rogue could have that power, maybe she could control the minds that resided within her own.

Rogue abruptly dismissed the idea. Who knew what her touch would do to someone already in a coma? But as she turned to walk back to Logan's bedside, a female voice she hadn't heard in over three years urged her to do it. To take just a peak at what Xavier knew. Erik's voice joined the woman's, telling Rogue that Xavier knew something about Logan, about a lot of things.

Glancing around once to be sure she was still alone, Rogue tugged the ill-fitting glove from her right hand and very gently and quickly brushed Xavier's bare shoulder with a trembling fingertip.

In that one moment, everything changed.

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**A/N:** Have I intrigued anyone enough to want to read more? Please review and let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **_Italics_ signify thought, emphasis, telepathic conversation or the voices in Rouge's head .

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Rogue felt as if she was being torn apart on the inside. Some part of her acknowledged that she had fallen to her knees in the lab, clutching her head in an effort to lessen the pain, but she also felt as if she were in every room of the mansion at the same time.

She could feel Jean's pain over not being able to do more for Xavier and Logan, and a lingering fear that had something to do with how much energy Jean had used at the Statue of Liberty. She could feel Cyclops' concern for Jean and his hope for the recovery of the man who was more of a father to him than his own had had the chance to be.

There were a lot of people in the mansion concerned about Xavier, some of them angry with she and Logan for coming into their lives and causing so much trouble. Still others, including Storm, Bobby Drake and the two girls who were her roommates, knew that if Rogue and Wolverine had not been with the X-Men first, Magneto's plan might never have been stopped and a lot of innocent people would be dead.

All of the voices, Rogue was sure there were hundreds of them, suddenly got louder and it was all she could do not to faint. She could feel Xavier's power reaching beyond the borders of the school's grounds and wanted to scream. She could not handle the voices of an entire city. It would kill her.

_Stop it, Charles. Hasn't the poor girl been through enough_?

The outside voices, the ones she had never touched, faded slightly and the tension in her head eased to where she didn't think it would kill her in the next few minutes.

_Plenty_, her inner Logan snarled at Erik. _And most of it is your fault, bub. You think you can make up for almost killing her by trying to put a leash on Chuck_?

Knowing they were each trying to protect her in their own way and thinking they might have a better chance if they weren't fighting each other all the time, Rogue concentrated every last bit of her strength on harnessing Xavier's powers to control all the people in her own mind.

_Both of you stop it_, Rogue commanded. _You both touched me the longest out of anyone, so you're going to be stuck with me. You're a part of me now, and I can't deal with fighting parts of myself and all the lesser voices in here_.

_OK, kid._

_Of course, my dear. I was simply trying to help_.

_I know_, she answered him tiredly. Rogue knew she would probably never forgive the real Magneto, that she'd probably try to kill him if given the chance, but hating a part of herself wouldn't help her in any way. _Thank you, Erik_.

Rogue forced one eye open only to find herself gazing at the cool linoleum floor. She pushed herself up on shaking arms and half-crawled, half-dragged herself to her chair. Burying her aching head in her pillow, Rogue closed her eyes again. But peace was not to be hers, at least not yet.

_Why did you do it, Rogue? I would have been more than willing to help you once I woke up. It wasn't right to just take without asking_.

_I'm sorry_, she sighed. _I didn't think I could wait. And she said_...

_She who, Rogue_?

_She...I don't know who she is, I can't dig that deep right now. But she cares about me, and she said... She said you knew something about Logan. I wanted to know it, too_.

Xavier's voice was quiet for a little while. _And what gives you the right to know something about Logan before even he knows it_?

Rogue whimpered at the heavy disapproval and tried to shrink into a smaller ball. _I don't know_.

_I will help you when I can, but you are to stay out of Logan's business. I will tell him what he needs to know when the time is right_.

Rogue let the Xavier in her head think that her silence meant that she agreed. Slowly, much slower than Rogue had expected considering how briefly she had touched him, Xavier's presence faded to the slight but constant hum the lesser voices in her head generally presented. Rogue made a mental note as she attempted once more to rest. _The more powerful the mutant, the longer they stick around, even if the touch is brief_.

Sleep was elusive, and when it did come, so did the nightmares. It started as a cold, rainy day when a young Eric Lensherr was separated from his parents at Auschwitz. His powers emerged when he realized that his parents, who he desperately loved, were being sent to the gas chamber. Terror, panic and pain ripped through Rogue, and it didn't let up at all when the scene suddeny shifted to a battlefield, also from World War II, this time to watch a friend of Logan's get blown up. Logan's anguish turned into intense physical pain and animalistic terror when the dream shifted to the lab where he was kept when faceless scientists cut him open and wrapped adamantium around his skeleton. Then suddenly she was angry and terrified at the same time, clenching her fists and tearing through anything in her path with her bare claws.

"Rogue! Rogue, stop it!"

She was leaning into someone, one of her small fists digging hard into a firm stomach. A hand on her shoulder shook her, trying to drag her out into the real world. She resisted, swinging her other fist into the offending person's gut with all the strength she could muster.

An "oof" broke through the haze in her mind, waking the voices. Her Inner Logan growled and pushed the others back, but it made her desperate to tear something apart with claws she didn't really have. With an effort she pulled away from Cyclops' slumped form, who if not an outright rival was at the very least competition for the position of Alpha Male. Which would have made her laugh if Logan hadn't been such a strong presence right then that she would almost swear she _was_ male.

"S-sorry, Cyclops," she forced out despite the Wolverine hating apologizing to anyone for anything. "I need... I need to hit something, rip something. I can't..."

Rogue hit her knees, the effort to assert herself over Logan taking what little strength she had.

Cyclops frowned down at her for a minute before suddenly nodding his head. "It's all right, Rogue. You touched him for a long time, I'm sure the Wolverine inside you is very powerful right now."

She whimpered and nodded, glad that he understood.

"Come on," he commanded lightly.

She frowned at him and gave Xavier and Logan concerned glances.

"I've already sent a message to Jean to come watch them for a little while, they'll be fine," he assured her.

Cyclops helped her stand and looped an arm around her waist to lead her down the hall to the elevator. She hated leaving Logan, even if Dr. Grey was coming, but seeing him (and Xavier) made her feel guilty. And the voices seemed to feed on guilt, prodding her with what she had done and constantly making her feel worse. And she supposed she needed rest, though she feared sleep wouldn't help. It would only allow the nightmares back in.

But Cyclops didn't take her up to the residential floor to sleep as she had expected him to, going down a level instead. They got off the elevator and headed for a large metal door much like the one that led to Cerebro.

_The Danger Room_.

Rogue was surprised for a second that Erik had been the one to identify Cyclops' intended destination. But his memories, and Xavier's, confirmed that Erik knew the entire layout of the mansion since he had helped build most of it. Rogue was impressed. She shivered when Erik and Xavier were proud of her admiration. Weren't any of her thoughts hers alone anymore?

_Don't worry about it, kid, we won't tell anyone_.

_Certainly not_, Erik backed up Logan's claim.

Cyclops had led her into a vast, round-walled room and left her standing near the door while he got something from a closet just outside the door. He came back to her and handed her two items. Knives. Throwing knives, from Logan's knowledge.

"I know it's not the same as claws, but..." Cyclops shrugged.

"Thank you, Mr. Summers," Rogue said in her own voice, grateful for the gesture and thought behind it.

Cyclops smiled at her and for just a moment Rogue wondered what his eyes looked like. She knew instinctively they would be kind.

"You're welcome, Rogue. And you can call me Scott."

Rogue nodded, forcing a small smile. The Logan in her head was growling again, trying to claim possession of her when Scott couldn't possibly hear him. But she didn't want the X-Men team leader to think she was nuts if she laughed at something in her own head.

"I'll be in the control room." Scott pointed above them to a small room with an observation window. "I'll start at the lowest level since you've never done this and you can decide how far you want to go. To go up a level, just say 'next level' and when you get tired or want to stop say 'terminate program'. You'll just be fighting simulated men."

Rogue nodded her understanding and smirked when Scott turned away. She wasn't going to be able to keep the Wolverine at bay for any longer. She heard Scott leave the room and the doors slide shut behind him.

_Just let me handle things, darlin_'.

The Erik in her head made a derisive noise but didn't fight for control, so she handed the mental reins to Logan. She knew he would never physically hurt her, he had thought he was giving his life for hers on the Statue of Liberty. And if she gave him an outlet, maybe the pressure in her head would ease at least a little.

But once the Wolverine started tearing apart holographic and robotic enemies in the Danger Room, advancing ten levels in ten minutes, Rogue forced her way forward. She wanted to learn to fight. If the events of the past few days had taught her anything, it was that even when she was surrounded by people who wanted to protect her, things could go wrong. There would be times when she _had _to rely on herself alone.

_Never_.

More than one of the voices had been trying to show their support at the same time, but the thought that _they_ would always be there wasn't comforting. She pushed the frustration away and focused on the moves Logan was using in her body, noting what worked and what fell a little short because of the differences in their physiology. By the time she was on level sixteen, Rogue was beyond exhausted and the Wolverine inside her had calmed considerably. She called a halt to the program and was met at the door a few minutes later by Scott.

"Impressive," Scott commented. "If you hold onto even a part of that ability and skill when things calm down, I'll talk to the Professor about training you to join us when you're a little older."

"I need a beer," something made her grunt.

Scott whipped his head to the side to look at her and for a split second she thought she saw one corner of his mouth quirk up. They walked in silence to the elevator.

On the ride up, Rogue asked softly, "How old?"

Scott shrugged, "I became official after college, so around twenty-one, twenty-two I guess."

Rogue nodded. She had two to three years of waiting then. She wasn't sure she could wait that long to fight for real. And he obviously thought she had even longer to wait than that. But Scott wasn't the right person to explain her lack of a high school diploma to when she told them she was nineteen. As nice as he had just been to her, Xavier was more of an authority figure and Logan was the one she cared about. So one of them would have to be who she confided in first.

They reached the med lab door and Rogue turned to Scott. "Thank you, Scott. There was just..." Rogue spread her gloved fingers in a searching gesture, than lifted one hand to tap the side of her head. "Too much up here."

"Get some rest," he told her kindly.

He walked away and Rogue went into the room. After a quick check on the room's other occupants and a bottle of water for Rogue, Jean left again. Rogue climbed back into her chair. But she didn't allow herself to sleep again. There was still too much going on in her head and she couldn't deal with another nightmare until she knew Logan was going to be okay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought, emphasis, telepathic conversation or the voices in Rouge's head (It shouldn't be too difficult to tell what's what).

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Despite all her intentions to stay awake, Rogue eventually passed out from sheer exhaustion. Thankfully, the nightmares couldn't penetrate the deepness of her sleep. When Jean shook her awake, Rogue was at least not as tired as she had been. Jean suggested she get something to eat and Rogue reluctantly complied after getting a promise from Jean that she would be the first to know if Logan woke up.

Rogue found Storm in the kitchen and ate a mostly silent meal with the white-haired African beauty. Storm asked a few questions about how she was doing but, after receiving vague answers, seemed to appreciate Rogue's need for silence. As Rogue left the room, Storm extended an offer for Rogue to join her in gardening should Rogue feel the need for a relaxing pursuit to get her mind off things. Despite thinking that the Wolverine would probably not be able to sit still long enough to accomplish anything in a garden, Rogue thanked the other woman. Now rested and full, Rogue felt a crawling sensation under her skin that signified the need for the Logan in her head to do a little damage.

She stalked down the hallway in search of Scott, passing Jubilee, one of the two girls who had been her roommates the few nights she had spent in the mansion before Magneto had kidnapped her. Rogue had to fight not to pinch her nostrils shut when she drew even with the girl. Her perfume was overpowering to Logan's senses, making Rogue's eyes water. She feebly returned Jubilee's friendly wave and scurried past her, barreling straight into Scott.

Steadying her by her sleeve-covered arms, Scott said jokingly, "We've got to stop meeting like this."

A sneeze and a watery smile were all the answer Scott got until the scent of Jubilee's perfume vacated Rogue's over-sensitized nostrils. Thankfully, Scott seemed to prefer the simple clean smell of soap.

"Bless you," Scott responded to her sneeze.

"Sorry," Rogue said softly. "Jubilee's perfume... Would it be possible to use the Danger Room again?"

Scott smiled gently, "Sure."

When they got to the Danger Room, Scott took her to the control room and showed her how to start the program on a timer so it wouldn't start until she was in the room. She wondered why until he asked if she wanted to do a joint session. Intrigued at the idea and wanting to observe Scott's fighting style, Rogue easily agreed. Scott set the timer and they headed down to the Danger Room floor together.

Half an hour later, just as Rogue was tossing a robotic bad guy into Scott's line of fire so he could destroy it with an optic blast, the Danger Room program halted. Rogue looked up to the control room, barely catching a glimpse of red hair. Beside her, Scott flinched.

"What are you doing Scott Summers?" Jean demanded as she strode in angrily a couple minutes later. "We just got her out of trouble with Magneto and your putting her in the Danger Room?"

"Jean, she needs..." Scott tried.

But Rogue was capable of defending herself. "I think you of all people would know how difficult it is to maintain a sense of self when you hear other people up here," she said, tapping her head. "If I didn't have this outlet... I don't know what I'd do. Scott is helping me preserve my sanity until Magneto and Logan fade."

It was mostly the truth, though Rogue knew Erik and Logan would never fade entirely. Their presences were too strong in her mind.

Jean blinked and looked slightly taken aback. After a silent minute, she nodded her head slightly.

"I'm sorry, Rogue, I had no idea." Jean reached a hand to Scott's shoulder, a gesture of apology, "Thank you for helping her, Scott. Just promise me that once they have faded, you won't allow her to endanger herself."

Scott nodded and Jean left the room. Scott asked Rogue if she wanted to start up again, but Rogue declined. She was tired again and decided to take a nap in an actual bed before returning to her vigilant bedside wait. Her Inner Logan had reminded her more then once since yesterday that when Logan woke up, he wouldn't be too happy with her or the 'X-geeks' if she still looked worn out after what he had done for her.

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More than an hour later, Rogue sat straight up in bed, breathing hard. A memory had surfaced while she was dreaming, one she had never seen. There were two women in it; one a woman who called herself Raven, and the other an older, blind woman whose name was Ilene. They had lived together and adopted a young girl whose father had all but kicked her out of the house when her mutation manifested and she sucked the life out of her first boyfriend, Cody. The problem with never having seen the memory before was that the girl was her. How could she have forgotten her own memories?

What had happened to Raven and Irene, whom she had called 'Mama' and 'Mama Irene'? She had a vague knowledge that they had both been mutants. That they had allowed her brief touches so that she knew them as well as if they had always been her guardians. But if that were the case, why would she have completely forgotten them and why had they left her with the D'Ancantos for nearly two years after she turned sixteen? Especially without warning either her foster parents or her about her mutation. And how was it that her mutation had been suppressed until David had kissed her?

A terrible guilt filled her as she thought about Cody. They had only been thirteen when she had accidentally put him in a permanent coma. At least David had woken up after three weeks. As soon as David had been out of the woods, Rogue had left. Moving from town to town in Mississippi with little money and a healthy fear of touching anyone had made the going slow. When she eventually made it to Laughlin City and met up with Logan, she had been on her own for nearly fifteen months, and two birthdays had passed, making her nineteen. Because of what had happened with David and the timing of her leaving, she had not graduated high school, though she would have if she had only waited a couple more months.

Rogue made a decision right then to get her high school equivalency. She wouldn't sit in classes she had already taken and be forced to be seen as being younger than she was. She would never be able to stand it; especially with how old she now was mentally. Maybe someday she would remember more about Raven and Irene and be able to track them down. Maybe then she could get the answers she desperately wanted.

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Rogue was in what she now considered her chair (without the pillow and blanket since Storm insisted she get enough rest in an actual bed each night) when the first of the two patients in med lab revived. It had been five days since the events on Liberty Island.

Jean leaned over Xavier to adjust one of the electrodes attached to his forehead. Rogue watched silently in her chair as Xavier's eyes blinked. So the Professor, despite his age and his lack of self-regenerative powers, had pulled through faster than Logan. She was glad for him, glad for the school and the X-Men, but Rogue couldn't help but feel that it was somehow wrong. Logan was supposed to be the invulnerable one.

"Welcome back," Jean greeted Xavier with a small smile. "I knew you'd find your way."

Xavier's steady gaze remained on the attractive redhead. "I had you to guide me."

Jean's smile widened, her eyes soft, and Rogue felt as if she were intruding on a private moment.

"How did we do?" he asked after a silent minute.

Jean looked over her shoulder in Rogue and Logan's direction. Xavier turned his head to the right to stare at the bandaged and monitored Logan. After a few seconds his gaze traveled to Rogue. She wanted to give him a reassuring smile, but her inner Erik didn't want her fully trusting Xavier.

_Was he more concerned for you or for the precious humans_?

Rogue felt Xavier attempt a gentle probe of her mind, but with Erik's help and some of Xavier's own residual power, she was able to block him. Xavier frowned and shared a look with Jean. Rogue's eyes narrowed. Were they having a telepathic conversation about her? She exerted Xavier's mental power and tried to listen in.

_What happened_? Xavier was asking.

_Magneto hooked her up to his machine, but we managed to stop the effects from reaching the delegates. It sucked the life from her, but Logan was able to revive her_.

Rogue mentally rolled her eyes. That was certainly simplifying things. Not wanting to get caught by either of them and not really caring what they thought of her after all that had happened, Rogue shut down using any borrowed powers. Her Inner Logan paced.

_Can we go back to the Danger Room now_?

_After dinner_, she mentally promised him. Knowing Erik would be the next to ask for an outlet, she added, _And then we'll bring a book down here from the library and read_.

She had quickly discovered that giving the two dominant voices in her head an outlet kept them pacified. And Rogue had found that she liked learning new things. She had never truly liked school growing up, but that had mostly been about other kids and tests. Rogue didn't like tests. But Logan's thrill when exercising combat skills and Erik's love for philosophy and literature were inspiring her to learn more than she had ever considered.

Rogue lifted her gaze when Jean approached her chair.

"Would you mind going upstairs for awhile and hanging out with some of the other kids? I need to get the Professor up and dressed."

Rogue spared a glance at Logan's still form.

"You'll send for me if there's any change?"

Jean nodded.

Rogue stood and nodded to Xavier, heading for the door. She stiffened when Logan's hearing picked up Jean's observation.

"Poor thing, she's got it bad."

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Instead of 'hanging out with the other kids' as Jean had suggested Rogue ended up in the Danger Room again. Scott had given her the codes to the first five levels the previous day, telling her that she shouldn't have to hunt him down every time she needed to vent. As the days had progressed, the Logan in her head took over less and less, but she had still acted strange on many occasions.

When Bobby Drake had tried to ask her to watch a movie with him during one of her forays into the kitchen, she had growled at him. The Logan in her head didn't want any other men near her, and since she had no intention of pretending to be normal with a boy chronologically and mentally younger than herself, he had taken a certain glee in scaring the boy. Rogue had apologized and told Bobby she'd like it if they could be friends. She felt a little bad when he looked disappointed, but it was better to nip it in the bud before he got it into his cocky young mind that he could find a way past her powers to get something from her.

Besides, she loved Logan, and she didn't want any man but him even trying. And most of males of the school weren't even men yet. In fact, beside Logan, only the Professor and Scott truly qualified. And though she thought she could become friends with Scott if given the chance, she was attracted to neither one of them. She giggled when Logan growled at the thought of she and 'Cyke' being more than friends and Erik made his relief clear at the knowledge that she would never be interested in Xavier. Sometimes the two men in her head were very amusing.

Of course, she hadn't thought it was so amusing when she'd had a craving for a cigar and had gone sniffing around Xavier's office trying to find where the aroma of tobacco was coming from. Jean had been the one to find her sniffing at a drawer in Xavier's desk, and the Logan in her head had proceeded to smirk at the redhead and had almost started to flirt with her. With Erik's help, Rogue's own force of will had stopped that from happening. When Rogue had reluctantly explained to Scott what she had been doing in the office when Jean passed her off to him, he had allowed her a single cigarette and a non-alcoholic beer. It had gone a long way in her Inner Logan's acceptance of the X-Men leader.

The Danger Room sessions had been a big help as well. She had fought alongside Scott twice and done a special training exercise with Storm once. But her favorite sessions were the ones during which she was physically alone. Under the tutelage of both Erik and Logan, she was learning a lot about defending herself and others. She had never been in a fight before leaving her foster parents' house after hurting David, but she knew her skills were now approaching formidable. If she had to, Rogue would be able to take care of herself.

_Terminate the program, my dear_, Erik said.

Rogue did as he had said and waited expectantly. But the next voice she heard in her head wasn't Erik.

_Hello, my sweet Marie_.

Rogue's breath caught in her throat. 'Mama Irene?'

_Yes, child. I need you to forgive your mother and I_.

_Why did you leave me with those people? They didn't understand. Whatever you did to make me forget, you shouldn't have done it. I hurt someone again; it's how I got into this mess_.

_I was dying, child, and your mother wanted to take me home to Austria so I could be buried there. We thought you would be safe with our neighbors until she could come back for you. I'm not sure why she didn't. And as for the rest, it had to happen the way it did. I'm sorry we hurt you, but it was destiny. You had to meet the X-Men, and you had to be saved from Erik's plan_.

Rogue's blood ran cold. Irene had called Erik by his real name. _You knew him_.

_Your mother works for him, and I helped her_.

A memory tried to surface, she wasn't sure if it was hers or Irene's, a flash of blue, white and a little red, but Rogue refused to let it come out. She wouldn't believe it, she couldn't.

_That's enough for now, Irene_, Erik ordered sharply. To Rogue he said, _Do you see why you'll never fit in here_?

_You fit with me, darlin'. Never forget that_, her Inner Logan growled comfortingly.

Suppressing all the voices as best she could, Rogue ran from the Danger Room to the elevator. Her bed in the room she shared with Kitty and Jubilee was her final destination. She couldn't risk Jean sensing her pain if she returned to med lab, because somehow she knew that Jean would probe for more information. And once Jean found out what had her so upset, her time at the X-Mansion would be limited. Rogue wouldn't let them kick her out before she knew Logan was okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify thought, emphasis, telepathic conversation or the voices in Rouge's head (It shouldn't be too difficult to tell what's what).

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Rogue was coming back to med lab after lunch two days after Xavier had woken when she was stopped in the doorway by the sight in front of her. Joy filled her as she realized that the bandages Jean was almost frantically checking under no longer covered wounds. Logan had healed. Rogue almost walked further into the room but was stopped when Jean stroked the skin under a large bandage on Logan's abdomen, causing the man to grunt. He also reached up to grasp the hand that had been touching him.

"Uh," he grunted hoarsely. "That tickles."

Jean smiled softly at Logan, even softer than the just-this-side-of-intimate smile Rogue had seen the woman share with Xavier. Rogue felt her throat close up and wanted to turn away from the scene, but she felt frozen to the spot. If she moved, one of them would spot her. She didn't want to be caught eavesdropping, no matter how innocent her part in it had been.

"Hey," Jean said in an almost-whisper that only her Logan-enhanced hearing allowed Rogue to hear.

"Hey," Logan returned only slightly louder.

"How you feeling?"

"Fantastic," Logan grunted, sarcasm dripping from the one word.

Jean smiled affectionately and Rogue felt like she had been punched in the gut. If Jean returned Logan's budding feelings even a little, he might never move past his infatuation with her. And then Rogue would never have a chance.

"That was a brave thing you did."

Rogue scowled. Logan had saved _her_, not Jean. _She_ should be able to bat her eyes and thank him for his sacrifice, not the redhead. Rogue watched as Logan's eyebrows drew together in a concerned look.

"Did it work?"

Rogue almost stepped forward then, but Erik stopped her.

_What else is she going to say about you? Will she put a spin on things that have happened in the last few days that will make him see you differently_?

_Never happen_, Inner Logan growled back.

But he didn't sound as certain as he usually did, so Rogue went against instinct and listened to Erik's suggestion. She stayed where she was.

"Yeah, she's fine. She took on a few of your more charming personality traits for awhile."

Logan made a sound between a snort and a wheeze, and Rogue wondered what he was picturing when Jean said 'charming personality traits' in that half-mocking tone.

"But we lived through it," Jean continued. She paused, looking down at their joined hands before saying, "I think she's a little taken with you."

Rogue's heart stopped for a minute. In that moment, she gladly would have drained every last drop of life from Dr. Jean Grey. How dare Jean reveal something that was so personal (and frankly none of her business) to Logan like that? But no matter how angry Rogue was, it didn't prepare her for the heartache that followed Logan's reply.

"Well, you can tell her that my heart belongs to someone else."

Jean stopped smiling and stammered, "You know... you and I..."

"How's the Professor?" Logan interrupted.

Rogue forced herself to breathe and held back the tears that threatened. She knew Logan would smell her tears if she let them fall.

"He's good," Jean automatically answered.

"Good."

Logan lifted Jean's hand, which he was still holding, and kissed her fingers, causing Jean to smile again. Rogue took the opportunity to quietly make her escape before she could be noticed.

She ran to the elevator as soon as she was out of hearing range of med lab, her mind racing. The Logan in her head was begging Rogue to understand that Logan had simply been flirting, that it didn't really mean anything. But Rogue knew from Logan's memories that once he had gotten past the fact that Jean was a doctor, he had been immediately attracted to her. When Inner Logan growled and tried to explain again, Rogue pulled Erik to the forefront so he would drown Logan out.

There was a railing in the elevator that Rogue held onto, hard, as the elevator moved upward. It hurt her hands a little, but she was glad for the pain. Anything to draw attention away from her breaking heart. When the elevator door opened on the ground floor in the mansion, Rogue let go and looked down, her eyebrows flying up.

She had left her handprints in the metal railing, no doubt from Erik's power. Did this mean she could draw on powers she thought had faded when she was particularly emotional? Glancing out of the open elevator doors to make sure no one was watching, Rogue concentrated and manipulated the railing back to its original shape.

_Well done_.

_Shut up, Erik. Do you know how much trouble I would have gotten in if anyone had found out I did that in the first place_?

_Does it really matter anymore, my dear_?

Rogue drew a deep breath. _No. I don't suppose it does_.

And just like that, Rogue realized that once she had shown Logan that she was fine, that he no longer had to keep his promise to take care of her, she was leaving. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was not the place for her. She wouldn't be treated like a child. She wouldn't stand by day by day and watch other mutants freely interact with each other when she would never be able to touch. And she wouldn't stay near Jean, who was everything she wasn't.

Intellectually, Rogue knew Jean wasn't a bad person. Jean hadn't made Logan fall for her on purpose. But Rogue would always feel inferior to the redhead if she stayed. Jean was beautiful, well educated, poised and in control of her powers. And Jean's powers didn't hurt other people like Rogue's did. Jean's powers were good for something other than self-preservation. She helped people with them.

Rogue stood outside the elevator for a minute, indecisive as to what she should do first. From everything she knew of Logan, she thought the best way to prove she didn't need him anymore, at least to him, would be to fit in with the kids here. Or at least pretend to for a little while.

Rogue tucked her hair behind her ears and made sure her clothes were covering as much as they would. The t-shirt she was wearing, borrowed from Jubilee since her own clothes had all been lost or destroyed, had a deep v-neck and short sleeves, leaving a few inches of bare skin on her arms before her opera length gloves started. But that and the scarf wound around her neck would have to do for now. Her head held high and a fake smile plastered on her face, Rogue headed for the common room where she knew the teenage students would be gathered.

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Logan stood to the Professor's left in the Briefing Room half an hour after waking up, watching carefully as a topographic image of a ruined building took shape in front of him.

"There's an abandoned military compound at Alkali Lake in the Canadian Rockies," the Professor was saying, "close to where we found you. There's not much left, but you might find some answers."

"Thank you," Logan said, still staring at the image.

Unfortunately, it wasn't ringing any bells yet.

"Are you going to say good bye to them?"

Logan turned his head to look at the Professor, blinking a few times. For a minute he wondered if '_them_' included more than Jean and Marie, the only two people here who really meant anything to him.

Instead of answering the Professor's question, Logan asked gruffly, "You'll make sure she's okay?"

"Of course."

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Ten minutes ago, Logan had been in a meeting with Xavier, but Xavier was now watching a television news report about Senator Kelly. Rogue glanced at the TV when she had the chance, but mostly she had to focus on the foosball table in front of her. So where was Logan?

Someone paused the television broadcast and Storm said, "Mystique."

Rogue tensed when the telecast resumed and a report was made about Kelly's assistant's death, relaying "Guyrich was mauled by a bear." But Rogue knew it had been Sabretooth. She had seen what the huge feral man was capable of. Rogue shivered, glad he had never been allowed to touch her once she had been captured.

That was when she noticed a new scent in the air. Logan's scent.

Peeking under her lashes, Rogue could see through the open doorway that Logan was standing by the door to the side foyer, a backpack slung over one shoulder. Outwardly, she continued to smile and play foosball with Bobby, John and Jaime, but inwardly she was waiting to see if he would come and say goodbye to her. She felt his gaze on her, but he turned and went through the door to the foyer. Telling Bobby she'd be back, Rogue ran after Logan, needing to see him one last time before they both disappeared.

When she went through the door, he had just reached for the handle to the one that led outside. He turned back around when he heard her behind him.

"Hey," she said.

Logan barely glanced at her before looking down, not meeting her eyes.

_Thanks, Jean_, Rogue thought sarcastically. To try to put them back on the footing they had previously enjoyed, she teasingly asked him the same question he had asked her on the train, "You running again?"

It didn't work. He continued to avoid her eyes.

"No, not really," he answered almost nervously, shuffling his shoulder strap. He looked down again, and for a wild moment Rogue considered looking at the floor to see what was so interesting. "I have some things to take care of up north."

Although Logan still didn't look in her eyes, he lifted his left hand to barely stroke her newly acquired white streak. The gesture seemed to be slightly hopeless, and Rogue knew he was feeling sorry that he hadn't reached her sooner. Rogue wanted his last memory of her to be happier than that.

"I kind of like it," she told him, surprised to find that she actually meant it.

Logan nodded his head slightly.

_Take me with you_, she wanted to say. The closest thing she would allow herself was, "I don't want you to go."

Rogue watched as Logan undid the chain around his neck. He lifted her gloved hand and put the dog tag into it, folding her fingers over the metal.

"I'll be back for this."

Before she could answer, before she could tell him that she wouldn't be here if he ever did come back, he had turned and gone out the door, closing it firmly behind him. Rogue stared down at the tag. Was it so wrong to keep this one part of him? Maybe one day they would meet again. And if not, she could always mail it back here. She knew Xavier would hold onto the memento for Logan.

Rogue heard the roar of a motorcycle engine and smiled. She had Logan's memory of his high-speed ride on Scott's machine. He had really liked it. The added bonus of making Scott mad was more than Logan could pass up, Rogue was sure.

Rogue slipped the chain with Logan's dog tag over her neck. The metal, still slightly warm from his body, settled between her breasts. Rogue touched the tag lightly and went back into the hallway. Sensing someone watching her, Rogue turned to meet Xavier's gaze. Rogue decided there was no point in drawing out the inevitable and moved to Xavier's side.

"I believe it would be best if we spoke in my office," Xavier said mildly.

Rogue nodded and followed sedately after the Professor's wheelchair as it moved down the hall to the designated room. While Xavier wheeled around his desk, Rogue closed the door behind them and sank down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Xavier sat forward slightly and steepled his fingers, studying her intently for several seconds.

"You've developed a rather powerful mind block in the last week, Rogue," Xavier remarked as he sat back once more.

Rogue fidgeted in her seat for a minute, wondering if he knew how she had accomplished that. "I had too many people in my head already. I didn't want anyone else poking around up there."

Xavier nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face.

_Maybe you should wait a few days to leave_, Erik prodded. _You're going to need more than just the clothes on your back to survive even for a short time_.

_You're right, but I already owe them so much. It wouldn't feel right to take more from them_.

_Owe them? For what? Treating you as the adult you are? Keeping you out of my clutches? Putting your life above those of complete strangers? You owe the Wolverine, not them. Besides, Charles owes_ me _for all the work and money I helped him put into this place. Take what you need._

Erik had said it like it was final and Rogue barely stopped herself from grinning. He was even more stubborn than she was. Maybe she _could_ take more. She was a realist. When she had left Meridian, Rogue had her own meager savings and a backpack of clothes and food to at least get her started. She had nothing now. When she did eventually get settled, she could find a way to pay Xavier back if her conscience continued to nag her. Xavier leaned slightly forward in his wheelchair and Rogue turned her attention back to him.

"Well, I think if you feel ready on Monday that you should rejoin the classes we previously put you in..."

"Actually," Rogue cut him off, "when my mutation manifested I was only two months shy of getting my high school diploma. I'd like to get my high school equivalency instead if you could help me with that."

If Xavier was surprised, only the tiniest lifting of his eyebrows signaled it. "How old are you, Rogue?"

"I turned nineteen a month ago."

There went the eyebrows again.

"I see. In that case, I would be happy to help you get your GED. It should take a week to set up the test if you feel you would be ready by then." Rogue nodded and Xavier continued, "Storm has offered to take you shopping Sunday since your clothes were either lost or destroyed in the recent events."

"Thank you, Professor."

Rogue stood up and made to head for the door.

"Rogue, if you need to talk about what happened or you'd like me to help you with the memories in your head that aren't yours, I'm always here."

Rogue nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The Professor seemed genuine, but she knew if she worked with him, it would come out that she had touched him. She didn't think she could deal with that. Erik's animosity for the man he had formerly cared about didn't help matters either. Rogue doubted she'd ever be completely relaxed around Xavier again.

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Two weeks after Logan had left, Rogue had her GED, a small but functioning wardrobe and money she had earned helping with homework and chores around the mansion. It wasn't a lot, but she knew she could survive on it for several weeks if she was careful. Now she stood in front of the door to Xavier's office, everything she owned in the world packed into a backpack similar to the one Logan had left with.

Rogue had said good-bye to her roommates, Kitty and Jubilee, when she was packing, but she thought they probably believed Xavier would talk her out of leaving. Rogue raised her hand and knocked, following Xavier's prompt to "Enter."

Xavier gave her the once over and asked, "Are you going somewhere, Rogue?"

"I'm leaving," she said simply. "But before I left I wanted to know how much about Logan's past you actually told him."

Xavier leaned back, his eyebrows drawing together in a frown. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that in 1944 in Poland Erik was twelve, making him around seventy, but in the same war Logan looked pretty much the same he does now. And Erik says there's more that you know about the Wolverine but he won't tell me what."

"Only what he would be able to handle right now."

A small, disbelieving laugh escaped Rogue.

"Of course, Charles," Erik said aloud through her.

Xavier narrowed his eyes. "I don't think you should leave if you're not in control of your own mind, Rogue."

Rogue smiled slightly, "I am leaving. If you won't help Logan to the full extent of your abilities, how can I trust that you would be helping me as much as you could? There is a couple I want to find who took care of me before the D'Ancantos. I have to do that on my own." She released a sigh before finishing. "Could you deliver these once I've left?"

She handed Xavier a stack of folded notes addressed to him, Scott, Jean and Storm. In each, she thanked the X-Men for their parts in her rescue and subsequent healing process. In Xavier's, she had apologized for touching him without permission and promised to find a way to repay them for all they had done. No matter how much she felt she didn't fit in at the X-Mansion, she didn't want to leave anyone with hard feelings either.

Xavier nodded and set the notes down on his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope, handing it to her. It wasn't sealed, and Rogue saw that it contained a few hundred dollars in cash and one of the X-Men's communicators.

"I can't take this."

"Yes, you can," Xavier responded calmly. "It's a loan, so I do expect to be paid back over time. I told Logan I would make sure you were okay, and if this is the only way I can keep my word, so be it. If you get into trouble, contact us on the comm and we'll find you."

Rogue moved around the desk and briefly hugged the older man. "Thank you, Professor."

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Five days after Rogue left 1407 Graymalkin Lane, a small package with a return address of a post office box in Salem Center was sent to Professor Charles Xavier. Inside it was the communicator he had given Rogue and a simple note.

'_If I want to be found, you'll know._'


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** _Italics_ signify emphasis, telepathic conversation or the voices in Rouge's head (It shouldn't be too difficult to tell what's what). 'these' signify Rogue's thoughts.

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"Anna? Is there a copy of 'Hamlet' on your cart?"

Rogue checked the cart of books she was putting back on the library shelves and found the book Sara, the head librarian, was asking for. She handed it to the older woman and smiled.

"Another student from the high school?" she asked.

"Mm-hm," Sara confirmed. "Another one asking for Cliff's Notes, if you can believe it. He just needs the actual book to show his teacher he has it."

Sara rolled her eyes and Rogue laughed softly. With a soft smile at her favorite employee, Sara left Rogue to finish putting away the reference books from her cart.

Rogue had started coming to the New York City Library a week after finding a small apartment in a not so good part of town. Erik was still a strong presence in her mind, mostly because of how much she relied on his companionship, Rogue knew. And he still liked reading. Rogue had grown to love it as well. Anything was possible in books.

Rogue had found work fairly quickly as a dishwasher at a small diner. She was paid cash by the owner and was fed by the cook. She made just enough working the morning and afternoon shifts on weekdays to make ends meet, and she didn't have to have a lot of direct contact with people. The owner's nephew worked weekends, giving Rogue time off. It suited her well.

Ernie, the cook, had looked at her strangely when she laughed at the gloves he had given her the first day to wear while washing. Ernie, a large, jolly man, had gotten past his initial curiosity about her and now treated her like favored niece, joking with her and giving her the left over groceries he knew the diner wouldn't use before they spoiled.

She had been going to the NYC Library several times a week for over a month before Sara had asked her why she never checked any books out. Rogue had given Sara the same name she used at the diner, Anna Stewart, and told her the same background story that had landed her the under-the-table gig at the diner. Anna was a runaway who, though now a legal adult, was still hiding from an abusive father and therefore used a fake name and couldn't get a library card.

Sara had taken Rogue under her wing and given her a library card based on a letter Rogue sent herself for address verification. Two weeks later, Sara had asked if Rogue would like a job at the library putting away books a couple hours a day. Sara paid her under the table as well, and had no problem with Rogue wearing gloves. Rogue had long since settled on a cover story of being germaphobic to explain her constant wearing of gloves. She had now been working at the library for nearly five months.

She kept the diner job, too, and was saving up to buy herself a bicycle, a lightweight one that she could carry up the stairs to her third floor apartment. In a couple more months, she would have enough. Walking helped her keep in shape, but she wanted to explore the city more and the subways bothered her nose too much to use often.

The Logan in her head had wanted her to return to the X-mansion since the day she had left, and after a week of arguing with him mentally, Rogue had asked Erik to help her find a way to silence Logan. Through trial and error, they had discovered that concentrating on Logan's abilities instead of his personality and memories helped suppress his voice. Every once in awhile he still surfaced, mostly after particularly bad nightmares, but with effort she could bury him again. When he _was_ there, he wasn't happy with her. But he was glad she had friends in Ernie and Sara.

Rogue often discussed books with Sara, since both women were avid readers. Sara had often commented on Rogue's intelligence, which secretly Rogue attributed much of to Erik, and had encouraged Rogue to sign up for community college classes. But Rogue knew there was no way she could do so without using her legal name, and then she could be found. She wasn't ready for that.

Finished with the reference books, Rogue rolled her cart to the fiction section to put away the last of her books for the night. Reading the jacket covers of a few of them, Rogue chose one to take home and put the cart away in the employee room. Sara was waiting at the counter when she came out, even though technically the library had been closed for five minutes. She always waited to let Rogue check out books at the end of her shift. Two books on yoga Rogue had picked out earlier sat on the counter, and Rogue added her novel to the stack.

"Did you give up on meditation?" Sara asked, indicating the yoga books as she scanned Rogue's library card.

Rogue often read up on different things, like self-hypnosis or meditation, she thought might help her with the voices in her head, though of course Sara didn't know that was the reason. The older woman probably thought Rogue was looking for religion or something.

"Not physical enough," Rogue replied with a smile as Sara handed her the library card and books. "My mind wanders too much when I sit still too long."

Sara smiled again. "You be careful walking home, Anna."

"See you tomorrow night," Rogue said with a goodbye wave.

Sara constantly worried about where Rogue lived, but Rogue couldn't afford a place anywhere nicer. Not to mention the lack of good apartments that didn't care if you had references and an available credit check.

Rogue was often skittish walking home at night, but she had only been approached once. Luckily, the guy had been drunk and had thought he was hallucinating when she sent his knife flying with a flick of her wrist from five feet away. Rogue thanked Erik and kept her fingers crossed that no one else tried anything. She knew she would have to leave the neighborhood if anyone found out she was a mutant, and that meant leaving New York. The city had become her home, and she hoped that didn't happen.

Rogue stopped outside the library's main doors and glanced over at the payphone. It was the fifteenth today, the day she always called Xavier's school to let them know she was okay. She had no idea if her mind block would hold up against Cerebro, or if the block still existed at all, so she had taken to calling the school once a month so they knew she was still breathing.

Rogue always spoke with Scott, since he had been so kind to her before she had left and never asked her to come back. Somehow she knew that he knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. And he accepted that.

Sighing, Rogue dug some change out of her pocket and dialed the school's main number.

A young female voice answered with a simple, "Hello?"

"May I speak with Scott please?" Rogue asked.

"Hold on," the child said.

Rogue could hear the phone being set down and the girl walking away from the phone yelling, "Mr. Summers, phone for you!"

Less than a minute later, Scott came on the line. "Hello, Rogue."

"Hi, Scott," she responded simply.

"Doing okay?"

"Just fine. Things there okay?"

Scott sighed, "Yeah, everyone's okay. Have you been watching the news lately?"

"No TV, but I read the paper once in awhile. I take it you're referring to the death of the Mutant Registration Act?"

"Yes, I guess Mystique pretending to be Senator Kelly isn't all bad."

Rogue stiffened and had to push Irene's voice out of her head as she did each time the shapeshifter was mentioned or remembered.

The operator came on the line requesting more change for the next three minutes, and Rogue said in a strained voice, "I have to go, Scott, I'm out of change."

"Okay," he responded, a disappointed note in his voice. "You know, you could call collect next time."

"I'll remember," she said softly. "Goodbye, Scott."

"Bye, Rogue."

Rogue hung up the phone and began the long walk home. On the way, she argued with Erik and Irene.

_You must break all ties with Charles and his students, my dear_, Erik told her. He did so every time she called Salem Center.

'And if they come looking for me? I won't fight them off, Erik. No matter how much you disagree with their ideals, they've never done anything to hurt me. Calling is more than a courtesy to them, it's a preventative measure.'

Erik made a noise and fell silent. Irene's turn.

_Find your mother, Marie. You must discover why she didn't come back for you, why she let what happened to you occur_.

'Mama Irene,' Rogue sighed. 'What good would it do? For whatever reason, she's forgotten me. It's the only explanation. Why else would she have let Magneto kill me? Even she isn't that unfeeling.'

_Find a way to remind her about you_.

'Even if I could, how would I get to her? She's a Senator now.'

Irene didn't have an answer to that, at least not yet, and Rogue had only her own thoughts in her head for the rest of the walk home. Unfortunately, the fact that Scott and Irene had both brought up Mystique inevitably made her think of the woman who had adopted and then abandoned her, the woman whose real name was Raven Darkholme.

Rogue still hadn't completely come to terms with the thought that her 'Mama' was the same scaly creature who had tried to stop the X-Men from saving her, and she knew someday she would have to confront 'Mystique' for her own peace of mind. And she had a lot of questions. One of the most puzzling after the fact that Raven obviously didn't remember her (and the fact that only after a lot of prodding from Irene had Rogue remembered bits of that part of her life) was the fact that her natural form had changed. Raven had often used her own form at home instead of the dark-haired beauty she was in public. But she had never had scales. Her hair too, had been different, falling in a soft bob to her shoulders. And she certainly hadn't walked around naked. Realizing she had almost passed her building, Rogue pulled herself out of her thoughts and began the climb to her small apartment.

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The next afternoon, Rogue had to call Sara from the diner.

"I'm not going to be able to come in tonight," she told the other woman.

She quickly explained that the dinner shift washer had called in sick and they didn't have anyone else who could fill in on such short notice.

"That's fine, Anna," Sara responded. "Why don't you come in sometime tomorrow so I can pay you."

"Thanks, Sara," Rogue responded gratefully.

She said goodbye and got back to work. The dinner shift was twice as busy as the breakfast one, and there were a lot of dishes to keep clean for new customers. Making sure no one was watching, Rogue used Erik's gift to swish the silverware at hyper speed in the hot soapy water, lifting the utensils physically to rinse in the second sink. Sometimes she was very glad to be able to control metal.

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"Thanks for staying late, Anna."

Rogue waved to Ernie as she left the diner out the back door. She was too tired to smile. She stuck her gloves in her jeans pocket, her hands too tender from being wet for hours on end to feel comfortable in the slick material. She trudged twenty feet down the alley before she realized she wasn't alone.

A young man stood in front of her, a wooden bat smacking threateningly against his palm. Rogue tried not to show to much fear, digging a small wad of cash out of her pocket.

"It's all I have," she said, holding it out to the man.

He snatched the money and counted it quickly.

"Twenty-five bucks?" he scoffed, and Rogue realized he was talking to someone behind her. "You think that's enough, guys?"

"Hell, no," chorused two voices behind her.

_Run, child_, Erik commanded roughly in her head.

Rogue tried, but as soon as she took a step forward, the man who had taken her money shoved her roughly backward. One of the men behind her clamped a hand over her mouth before she could scream. At the same time, the other man behind her grabbed her wrists, yanking her hands roughly behind her, and the man in front of her reached for the chain around her neck. As strongly as she didn't want it to, Rogue's power kicked in, shocking all three thugs when they started to feel weaker.

They let go of her abruptly, but the damage was done. Three new voices had been added to her head at the same time, something that had never happened before. The angry presences swirled in her head, and her control snapped. Rogue fell to the ground. All the voices she had suppressed and buried broke free and began talking at once. Rogue barely felt or heard it when the thugs who had attacked her whacked and kicked her a few times, swearing at the 'mutie' before leaving the alley, staggering in their weakened condition.

Rogue couldn't tell if she was crying or even breathing, so strong were all the voices. Erik, Logan, Irene and even Xavier tried to help her get the others under control, but they only barely managed to keep Rogue's own personality at the surface. Rogue had no idea how long she lay on the dirty alley floor, curled into a tight ball.

When a white boot stepped into her field of vision, Rogue drew what strength she could from Logan and Erik to raise her eyes. Her gaze traveled up the boots, thigh high, then over blue skin and white clothes before it met a yellow gaze.

All Rogue could choke out was, "How?"

"Destiny," Mystique answered simply.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Telepathic conversation and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_.

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Rogue couldn't help but flinch when Mystique leaned down to help her up.

Mystique sighed and said gently, "There is much to explain, but first we need to get you somewhere safe. Will you allow me to help you?"

Somehow Rogue gathered enough strength to speak. "You _will_ tell me why you let things happen the way they did?"

Mystique's yellow eyes seemed to dim slightly, but she nodded. "I promise."

Rogue nodded her assent and didn't react this time when Mystique leaned over her. But instead of simply helping her stand, Mystique picked Rogue up and carried her. When they left the alley, Mystique shifted forms into a burly man so no one would think it strange that someone practically the same size as her was carrying Rogue. With silent motions of her hand, Rogue indicated the directions to her apartment.

By the time they were inside with the door closed behind them, Rogue was wishing she had a more destructive power. Her head was splitting, and she had an intense desire to destroy something, to smash something to smithereens. The voices of the three thugs were still all yelling at her, and she wished very strongly for mental ear plugs. Mystique set her down on the worn sofa that had come with the apartment, and Rogue tried to focus on the woman who had adopted and then abandoned her.

Somehow Rogue knew having Mystique there was helping her keep the voices at least somewhat at bay, that if the shapeshifter hadn't appeared when she did, given Rogue something else to focus on, her own mind might not have been able to stay at the surface. She didn't want to know what 'she' would be capable of if one of the other voices, especially the mutant-hating human ones, took over.

Mystique moved to the small kitchen area of the apartment, once more in the form Rogue remembered from the time she had called the woman 'Mama'. Rogue watched quietly as Mystique made her a cup of tea.

Silence reigned until after Rogue had taken a few small sips of the steaming chamomile-flavored liquid. She set the cup down gingerly on the small table near the sofa and leaned back to study Mystique. She looked so much different from the scaly creature who had barely spared Rogue a glance when she was imprisoned by Magneto that it was almost hard to believe they were the same person.

Mystique's blue skin was now smooth, unblemished. Her red hair no longer looked like a glued-back butch cut, falling softly to her shoulders, a skull emblem resting at her widow's peak. She was also dressed, which was a marked improvement in Rogue's mind. The form hugging halter dress with separate front and back flaps to the skirt somehow managed to look elegant on Mystique, and her skull belt and thigh high white boots added just enough attitude to the ensemble. Rogue wondered if the gloves Mystique wore were just in deference to her skin, or if Mystique really liked having every accessory she could.

The voices got louder suddenly and Rogue's vision swam for several long seconds before Erik pushed his way to the forefront.

_Listen to Mystique_, he said lightly. _Do not blame her for what I did_. _I am sorry, my dear, there is so much I have done to you that I could never begin to make up for_.

'Keeping the others quiet is a good start, Erik,' she reminded him gently of how much he had helped her so far. 'I'll let you know if I think of something more.'

_Anything_, he promised.

Mystique sighed and Rogue's gaze flew to her face.

"Erik..." Mystique corrected herself when Rogue frowned at her, "I mean, Magneto... Magneto is a very powerful mutant. We both hate humans for various reasons, and we both believe in the supremacy of mutants. And I think he could truly be a great leader for our kind." Mystique sighed again, "But that doesn't mean I would ever let him hurt you. If I'd had my memories, I would have asked him to find another way..."

Mystique trailed off and Rogue shifted slightly, "Do you know what happened to our memories?"

"I can't be sure until I can speak with Magneto again, but he knows a mutant that goes by the name Mesmero who can alter memories. I believe Irene and I chose to alter yours so no one would hurt you because of us. The affects of Mesmero's ability starts to wear off when confronted by true memories, so I knew when I came back I'd be able to get you to remember. I can only assume that Magneto erased you from my memory when he decided you'd be useful in his plan. He did keep our contact to a minimum while we were holding you right before the Statue of Liberty."

Rogue nodded her understanding and asked, "But how was I able to touch until David kissed me? I know my mutation was active before I lived with the D'Ancanto's; I remember that and a little more."

"I used a serum that suppresses the X gene temporarily. It's only usable once because the body builds up an immunity to it, and I thought I would be back with you before it wore off. I am sorry for that as well, maybe if I hadn't hidden your mutation you would have been safe longer."

"It's alright, Mama," Mystique's face lit up when Rogue unconsciously used the endearment she had previously. "If my mutation hadn't come back when it did, I never would have met Wolverine and the X-Men never would have known to save me."

Mystique lowered her gaze momentarily.

When she looked up again, Mystique said softly, "I suppose I owe _them_ a lot as well."

"We both do," Rogue agreed.

Now that she had the answers she felt were most important, Rogue was suddenly swamped with exhaustion. The voices were slightly quieter... Erik's doing, she knew... but there were still too many of them.

"Are you okay?" Mystique asked, concern evident in her tone.

Rogue shook her head slowly, "I need to find a way to get them out."

Mystique stood and moved to join Rogue on the couch, pulling the younger woman into her arms. Mystique ran a soothing hand over Rogue's head and down her back, showing Rogue a maternal affection she hadn't realized she'd missed until now. Quiet tears slid down Rogue's face as her mother held her. Mystique let her cry, making soothing noises every once in awhile.

When Rogue was all out of tears, she had to struggle to sit up. She was so weary.

"Rogue... may I call you Marie again?"

Rogue blinked and smiled shyly, "Only if it's okay for me to call you Mama."

"Of course, my daughter," Mystique said with her own soft smile. "You should get some rest while I pack up your things."

"You're taking me with you?" Rogue couldn't help but feel her spirits lift at the thought of not being alone.

Rogue had survived fine on her own since leaving Xavier's school, but that didn't stop her from being lonely. And to know that Mystique wanted her not for the powers she had, but for the connection they had once shared, meant a great deal.

Mystique shook her head slowly, "No, Senator Kelly suddenly having a mutant ward would be too far out of character. I need to continue my work in Washington D.C. for now, but before I go back I want to take you to the Brotherhood House."

"The Brotherhood?" Rogue echoed.

"Magneto's group."

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Rogue stared out the helicopter window, watching the scenery to stay awake. She was still slightly in shock at having agreed to go to the Brotherhood's mansion. Not only was it one of Magneto's bases of operation (though granted he was in a security prison facility with no immediate hope of escape), but it was located in North Salem, just minutes away from Salem Center, where the X-Men were headquartered.

Mystique had told her that if Rogue felt uncomfortable in the mansion, she would find Rogue another place to live when she got a few days free from her masquerade as Senator Kelly. But the mansion had a secure connection that Mystique would be able to use to call her once a week, and there were only a few people living at the mansion. Sabretooth had taken off after his defeat at the claws of Wolverine, Toad was gone and Magneto was in jail. The ones left at the mansion did not have seniority in Magneto's organization.

Rogue wasn't sure how she felt about meeting those who did live there. Were they as anti-human as Magneto? Rogue had never had support from humans in her life that knew her secret, her own father included, but Sara and Ernie had been good to her in New York City. Rogue wasn't out to kill all humans, and she wasn't sure she could stand to live with people who felt that way.

Calls had been made to both Sara and Ernie, in part to quit her jobs, and also to let them know she was okay and would contact them again when she could. Sara had taken a bit more convincing, and Rogue had been shocked when Mystique had agreed to talk to Sara over the phone in her true position as Raven Darkholme, Marie's mother. Sara had evidently berated Raven for leaving Marie with her 'father' and forcing Marie into a situation where she would have to live outside the law. But Raven had taken it well, promising the other woman that she would never abandon her daughter again.

The helicopter slowed significantly, and Rogue focused on the mansion whose heli-pad they would soon be landing on. It was remarkably similar to Xavier's mansion in design, though it appeared to have a few more wings.

The interior, however, was much different. This was a true mansion, obviously never designed to be a school and dormitory. There were large rooms Rogue saw in passing as Mystique led her to her new room; a kitchen, living and sitting rooms, libraries Rogue knew she would soon be haunting, and bedroom suites.

There were two young men in one of the sitting rooms, arguing about something. The taller of the two, also much heavier muscled, said something in a language Erik told her was Russian. Suddenly, the other young man, who'd had hair Rogue could have sworn was silver despite his youth, was gone. Was his mutation invisibility? She shrugged and kept following Mystique. She was sure the other woman would tell her all she needed to know about her new housemates.

In one hallway, Rogue noticed an elevator that appeared to only go down.

"Is there another Cerebro here?" she asked.

"No," Mystique answered. "We have a Danger Room, various gyms to work out in and an engineering room, but no Cerebro. After all, we don't have a Charles Xavier to use it; it would have been a pointless expense."

Rogue nodded and made a mental note to ask her mother for instructions on the use of the Danger Room here. It had been too long since she'd had a proper workout.

_What the _hell_ are you doin in this place, kid? If you're lonely, go back to Chuck's._

Though Rogue was surprised at suddenly hearing her Inner Logan again, she quickly answered him, 'No.'

_Marie_, he growled warningly.

But Erik snapped at him to keep quiet and the two men faded into the recesses of her mind, still arguing.

The room Mystique led her into was in a quiet wing of the house, and was bigger than Rogue's entire apartment. It also had a full in-suite bathroom, a large sized spa tub... a dramatic improvement over the simple shower stall that had been in both her apartment and her shared room at Xavier's... beckoning her with a long, warm soak. Mystique noticed Rogue eyeing the tub with longing and smiled indulgently.

"Why don't you relax and then get some sleep?" Mystique suggested gently. "We can talk more in the morning, and I'll show you around before I have to leave for my afternoon meeting."

Rogue was afraid of sleeping alone when the voices were so strong, but she was sure Mystique had other things she had to take care of. She smiled and nodded, surprised when Mystique pulled her into a hug.

Mystique kissed the top of Rogue's head and assured, "I'll be right next door if you need anything."

"Thanks, Mama."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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Rogue didn't know how long she had slept, but she woke up in the dark, sobbing uncontrollably. The usual nightmares had been made even worse by the hatred the three newest residents of her head kept spewing. She sat up, scooting back against the bed's headboard, her knees drawn up to her chest.

Outside of swear words, the three thugs had a limited vocabulary, relentlessly taunting _mutie_ and _freak_ over and over.

Rogue jumped when the door to her new bedroom swung open. But seeing a concerned Mystique there, Rogue relaxed slightly. She didn't want to have woken up her new housemates with her nightmares before she had even met them. Mystique moved quickly to her side, sitting beside Rogue on the bed and pulling her closer.

"Sorry, Mama," Rogue whispered as the other woman soothed her.

"Don't ever apologize for needing me, Marie." Mystique sighed softly, "I have a lot to make up to you, but I'll never be able to if you keep me out of your life."

"I'm _here,_ aren't I?" Rogue asked bitterly.

"Yes, and I appreciate the fact that I will know that you're somewhere safe while I can't be with you, but just being here isn't going to help us reconnect. We both lost memories, and Irene is gone. I don't know if we'll be able to get back what we lost, because there was no one else who knew what we knew."

Rogue was silent for a minute before quietly asking, "What about Mesmero? If he did this, could he undo it, too?"

"I don't know," Mystique answered. "Even if he could, I don't know where he is, only Magneto would know that."

"You're going to break him out, aren't you?" Rogue asked quietly.

"When I find him," Mystique answered honestly. "They're keeping his location top secret. What he did was wrong, and I will kill him before I'd let him attempt it again, but he is important to me. And he's important to other people as well."

"Who, Sabretooth?" Rogue asked derisively. "We _should_ try to keep that animal happy."

Mystique sighed heavily, "No, Rogue. Magneto is important to his children and the rest of the Brotherhood."

_My son Pietro and my daughter Wanda,_ Erik informed her._ And not all mutants have the same ideals as Charles. Does that mean they shouldn't have a place to stay, a way to help each other?_

'Erik,' Rogue stopped his tirade. 'You know you'll never recruit me, so save the speech. I understand. It doesn't mean I have to like that Magneto's in charge.'

Erik fell silent, the only things in her head besides her own thoughts the sharp headache and vague words of all the voices fighting it out.

Rogue glanced at the clock on the wall across the room. Thanks to the enhanced night sight Logan's heightened senses gave her, she could see the hands and numbers even from that distance. 4:23. She had slept for three hours, longer than she had thought, but not long enough considering what she had been through. But in the state she was in, she wasn't sure she wanted to risk going to sleep again. One of the other voices might wake up instead of her.

"Do you want to talk about the nightmares?" Mystique asked softly.

"I have them almost every night," Rogue sighed. "Sometimes they're just one person's. On the worst nights, like tonight, it's a mix of everyone's. World War II, labs, relatively normal nightmares from the humans."

"You haven't found any way to control them better?"

Rogue shook her head, "I was going to try Yoga next, but I've tried self-hypnosis and meditation already with no results."

"Xavier wasn't able to help you?"

Rogue stiffened, but remembering what Mystique had said about letting her in, she admitted, "I didn't let him try. I… I touched him while he was in a coma, and I was afraid if he tried to help he'd know."

Mystique nodded slowly. "Whenever I get free time, I will look for someone to help you. Until then, is there anything that helps at all with the voices? I think you used to swim when Cody got too loud."

"When I was at Xavier's, Scott let me use the Danger Room. It helped tame the Wolverine. Erik prefers reading. Once the two of them are placated, they usually keep the others suppressed."

"Erik?" Mystique questioned softly.

Rogue answered carefully, "It's why I prefer for you to call him Magneto. The Erik in my head has been good to me but… well, it helps to think of them as different men."

Mystique nodded and leaned forward to press a kiss to Rogue's head, her hair a shield against her deadly skin.

"Let's go to the Danger Room, then, shall we?"

They both got up from the bed, and Rogue smiled shyly before saying, "Thank you for stopping the Mutant Registration Act. I know what you're doing in Senator Kelly's place is important."

Mystique smiled, "You're welcome. I never thought anyone would thank me for it. And I'm glad you understand. But remember, if you do truly need me for something, you're my daughter and you come first."

"Thank you, Mama," Rogue answered.

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There was quite an impressive array of weapons in a locker outside the Danger Room (Rogue had decided to call this one "the DR" so it wouldn't make her think overly much of Xavier's). Luckily, throwing knives were part of that arsenal. Mystique gave her a questioning look when she strapped the sheaths to her thighs. Rogue explained about Scott thinking it would be similar to claws.

It was very different from claws, of course, but Rogue had grown to like them. She was good with them, too. Rogue thought she might be a little rusty after having no practice for several months (she had quickly discovered that kitchen knives just weren't the same), but once she tested the weight of the knives in her hands, she took it up as if she had never stopped.

Mentioning that she hadn't had a good workout since first going undercover as Senator Kelly, Mystique joined Rogue in the DR. They were on the twelfth level when the robot Rogue was fighting hit one of the knives out of her hand, hard. It flew to where Mystique was pummeling another of the robots, and Rogue realized it was going to hit the other woman in the back.

Mama, look out.

Mystique ducked, the knife's point jamming in one of the robot's arm joints. Mystique called a halt to the program, turning to stare at Rogue.

"How did you do that?"

Rogue blinked, realizing that she had psychically shouted instead of doing it out loud. And yet Mystique had still heard her.

"I… I don't know. I was able to use Erik's power once when I really needed it after I thought it had faded. Through practice, I realized that if I concentrated I could call it up again; I guess I can still access Xavier's power as well."

Mystique looked thoughtful, a hint of worry in her yellow eyes. "It might be better if no one else knew that. Xavier is very powerful, and there are those who would try to get their hands on you if they thought they could access that power without having to go through the X-Men."

Rogue nodded her understanding. Okay, Mama.

This might come in handy someday, Mystique thought back to her.

_Like kids in a candy store,_ Erik commented fondly in Rogue's head.

Rogue grinned.

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Half an hour later, Mystique had finished giving Rogue a tour of the house, including giving her the codes to some of the limited access areas, like the DR and Mystique's office, which contained the phone Rogue would be able to use to place calls she didn't want traced. They scheduled a time for Rogue to call "Senator Kelly" in three days, Mystique telling her that they would schedule future calls then.

On the way to the kitchen where she would meet the rest of the household, Rogue asked, "When you found me in the alley, you said that it was Destiny that lead you to me. That was Mama Irene's codename, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," answered Mystique, an almost wistful tone in her voice. "Before she died she post-dated a letter to reach me at the right time and told me that you needed my help and where to find you. She also sent me a picture of the three of us together so I would remember your place in my life and my true form."

"Can I see it?"

"I left it in Washington, I'll bring it with me next time I'm home."

"Okay." Rogue paused for a moment before asking, "Why _were_ you using that form?"

"I don't know." Mystique shrugged. "I can't think of any reason Magneto would want me to look like that; maybe Mesmero got creative, I have no idea."

They had reached the kitchen door, and Rogue followed Mystique into the kitchen. Five young men and a young woman sat at the table. They all looked up at her, and Rogue wondered how many of them knew her history with Magneto. Mystique had said she hadn't told them anything, but that didn't necessarily mean they hadn't found out some other way.

"Everyone, this is my daughter, Rogue, she'll be staying in my wing of the mansion. Rogue," Mystique indicated the first of Rogue's new housemates, "this is Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch."

Wanda had auburn curls that fell just past her shoulders and light blue eyes. Magneto's eyes. The other young woman smiled at Rogue but said nothing.

"Her twin brother, Pietro."

"Quicksilver," the silver-haired young man she had seen the night before smirked as he cut Mystique off. "What'd you do to your hair?"

He had been eating a cereal that was more sugar than anything else, his spoon and arm moving so fast it had appeared to be a blur to Rogue. He had the same light blue eyes as his sister, and a slightly darker complexion.

"Stress," she answered softly.

Why let him know that it was his father's fault her hair was two colors? It wasn't her place to drive a wedge between them. Not that knowing Magneto had hurt her would necessarily do that, but she and Mystique had already decided to keep Rogue's encounter with Magneto a secret until it had to be brought up. Mystique didn't want the Brotherhood members giving Rogue a hard time if they believed it would put them in Magneto's good graces.

"And this is Colossus," Mystique continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.

Maybe Pietro interrupted her so often she was accustomed to ignoring him. The man Rogue had seen Quicksilver arguing with stood up and came around the table to take her gloved hand in his large one.

"Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin," he introduced himself, his voice rough with an obvious Russian accent. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Rogue smiled up at him.

Colossus was very tall, well over six feet, and had black hair and dark blue eyes. He was very attractive, but there was an air of sadness around him that made Rogue think of a caged animal that wanted nothing more than to be released.

"Dominic Petros, also know as Avalanche."

Another man, this one with dark brown hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion, nodded.

"And Remy LeBeau, also known as Gambit."

"Mystique saved the best for last, chere," Gambit grinned. "Remy be at your beck and call."

Mystique frowned, "Stay away from her, LeBeau."

Remy turned his red-on-black eyes in Mystique's direction. "You injure Remy! What has Remy ever..."

"He's married," Mystique flatly told her daughter.

Remy began stuttering about 'arranged marriage' and 'separation'. Rogue tried not to laugh. Even if Mystique hadn't warned her away, she wouldn't have been interested in the Cajun. He was too smooth. She wanted someone real, who would never hide who he was or what he was feeling behind slick words and suggestive glances.

Mystique glanced at the clock and then at her.

"Do you want to say good-bye here or walk me to the helicopter?"

"I'll walk you out," Rogue said quickly, somehow not yet ready to be left alone with her new housemates.

It was only after she had said an emotional goodbye to Mystique, promised to call at the appointed time or as soon as she needed something, and gone back into the house when she remembered that Mystique had not warned the others not to touch her.

"Great, now I have to go track down all of them and tell them about my skin," she muttered to herself.

"Actually, Mystique told us last night."

Rogue nearly jumped out of her skin before realizing what Wanda had said.

"She did?"

Wanda nodded, "And let me tell you, Avalanche was _not_ happy at being woken up for that."

"Sorry," Rogue said softly.

"It's okay," Wanda responded.

The other woman shrugged and tossed her hair back, giving Rogue a once over.

"You want me to show you around town? We could go shopping, too, if you'd like. I assume Mystique gave you money."

Rogue nodded. "If you're sure it wouldn't be any trouble."

"Trouble?" Wanda laughed. She linked her arm through Rogue's and steered them in the direction of Rogue's room. "You have no idea how nice it's going to be not being the only female in the house anymore. I swear, one of these days those guys are going to actually have a pissing contest in the backyard or something. Way too much testosterone for a single household."

Rogue laughed. "Mama told all of you, right?"

Wanda nodded.

"And Gambit still hit on me?"

"Honey," Wanda said in a trust-me-I-know voice, "that man flirts with any pretty girl."

Having reached her room, Rogue slid her wallet into the pocket of her jeans and grabbed a jacket. It was cool outside, and the jacket would be added protection against accidental touches. As she was putting it on, something caught Wanda's eye.

"A dogtag?" Wanda questioned.

Rogue blushed slightly, "It belongs to Wolverine... a friend. He gave it to me for safekeeping."

Wanda grinned. "A friend, huh?"

"I only wish he were more," Rogue admitted softly.

Wanda linked her arm back through Rogue's and the two young women headed toward the mansion's garage.

"You can tell me all about him over mochas at the mall cafe."

"Okay."

Rogue smiled. She hadn't been at Xavier's long enough to bond with any of the girls, and except for Jean and Storm they had all been younger than her, too young to understand her feelings for tall, dark and growly. It was going to be nice to have a friend her own age who she could share things with.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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"So, tell me about this guy," Wanda requested with a smile.

Accepting the disposable cup of mocha handed to her, Rogue smiled back as Wanda sat down across from her. The small table had been the only one available when they had reached the mall, so Rogue had given Wanda her order and sat down to wait for the other young woman. It gave her time to think about the oddness of the situation. Here she was, a twenty minute drive from Xavier's school, about to have a caffeinated beverage with the daughter of the man who had tried to kill her. She had decided during the wait that she would tell Wanda as little as possible so Wanda would have a hard time linking her with the X-Men.

"His name is Logan. He's handsome, strong, protective and kind in all the little ways that matter. We didn't know each other that long, but circumstances forced me to touch him, so I know him better than I know almost anyone else. But even before that we had this... connection that I thought went both ways."

"What happened?" Wanda asked gently.

Rogue sighed softly, "He does care about me, but... he fell for someone else, and then he left."

"I'm sorry," Wanda remarked.

Rogue smiled slightly. "Don't be. If he hadn't left, I wouldn't have gone to New York and been reunited with Mama."

Now that she had finished talking about a man she would never be able to call hers, Rogue decided to come right out and ask one of her greatest fears about her new home. "Are you sure you're okay with me being at the mansion?"

"What do you mean?" Wanda asked, stirring more cream into her coffee.

"Well, I'm Mystique's adopted daughter, but she isn't currently living here. And I'm not a member of the Brotherhood, nor am I likely to become one."

Wanda shrugged, "It's not a big deal. Mystique has more of a claim to the house than the rest of us, except for my father of course. And you have to understand that Pietro and I only learned he _was_ our father a few months before he went to jail. That's why we have a different last name. We were adopted when we were very young. We aren't devout Brotherhood members, we just happen to live in the mansion."

Rogue forced herself not to let a relieved sigh escape. If Wanda did find out about Rogue's part in Magneto's capture, maybe she wouldn't be too upset by it.

"In fact," Wanda continued, "Pietro and I have been approached about joining another group called the Avengers. But I don't have total control over my powers and I don't want to be part of a group like that until I do. And Pietro and I don't want to be separated."

Rogue nodded, unable to keep from feeling a bit jealous that Wanda had the hope of controlling her powers. She was also envious that Wanda had family that wanted to stay close. She knew Mystique's work undercover as Senator Kelly was important, but she couldn't help wondering what it would be like if Mystique had been able to stay. Trying not to feel sorry for herself, Rogue decided to learn more about her other housemates.

"What about the others?" she asked. "Are they more involved in the Brotherhood?"

"Avalanche is. Gambit comes and goes, he's a thief and more of a mercenary than an actual member of the group," Wanda paused. "Piotr, well, I don't know why he's with us. He's exceptionally strong and can turn himself into living steel, but he doesn't believe in my father's cause. I think Dad has something on him, but he doesn't trust me or Pietro enough to talk about it."

Rogue made a thoughtful noise and decided to change the subject slightly. "Do any of you have jobs outside of the Brotherhood?"

"Well, like I said, Gambit's a thief. Piotr isn't here legally as far as I know, and Avalanche restores old cars, gets a pretty good price for his work, too. I was fired from my last job because my control slipped for a moment and my boss found out I was a mutant. So unless I want to change my name, it won't be very easy to get another job. And Pietro has a hard time finding something he can do. Because of his power, he likes to be moving as constantly as possible, so he's never found anything that doesn't bore him inside a week. He's between jobs currently."

When Wanda picked up her cup and sipped her coffee, Rogue quietly began the story of her life in New York, leaving out the little bits about using Magneto's powers and the real reason behind her initial visits to the library. By the time she had shared her tale, they were both finished with their beverages.

The two young women spent hours in the mall, talking and getting to know each other more than they actually shopped. But Rogue did go back to the mansion with more clothes to add to her meagre wardrobe and more of a sense of belonging. She and Wanda were very different, but they did have some things in common, their relatively recent reunions with long lost parents not the least of it.

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"Would you like to tell me what's bothering you, Scott?"

The field leader of the X-Men looked up at his mentor and shrugged. "It's only been two days since Rogue's last call and I'm already worried. It's driving me to distraction a bit, and Jean isn't too happy about it having been on my mind constantly since then."

Scott sighed and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. He had come to Xavier's office to get an assignment, but the older man had been on the phone until a few moments ago. In his heart, he suspected that Jean was jealous of his concern for Rogue, but if he admitted that, he'd have to admit that the main reason Jean was jealous of Rogue was the younger woman's connection to the Wolverine. Scott knew Jean loved him and not the Canadian, but he also knew she was attracted to the other man. And that made _him_ jealous.

"Would it help if the next time she calls you asked her to check in more than once a month?" Xavier asked.

Scott sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it a bit. "I don't know. I just can't help feeling that Rogue is our responsibility, and she's out there all alone. I guess I'd feel better if I at least knew where she was."

"Have you asked her?"

"No," Scott answered. "I didn't want to make her mad and risk her not calling at all anymore. You never explained why you can't use Cerebro just to check up on her."

Xavier frowned momentarily before answering. "Do you remember those notes she left?" At Scott's nod, he continued, "In the one she wrote to me, she confessed to having touched me when I was unconscious in the infirmary. It certainly explains the strong mental block she had before she left, and I assume it masks her from Cerebro as well."

It was Scott's turn to frown. "Don't you think after all this time your power would have faded?"

"I don't know, Scott. Until it becomes necessary, I'm reluctant to track her down when we know she wants to be left alone." When Scott would have argued, Xavier put on his best commander-in-chief attitude, "Right now I need you to go pick up the mutant I've been tracking. Take Storm with you." Softening somewhat, he added, "If Rogue ever misses a call-in, we'll see if we can find her."

Scott stood, but couldn't help adding one more comment. "There is one other thing I'm concerned about."

Xavier lifted his eyebrows in askance.

"What will Logan do when he comes back to find out that she's gone?"

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Logan quickly ducked away from the meaty fist intent on smashing in his nose. Having successfully dodged his opponent's blow, Logan delivered a blindingly fast left hook to the man's jaw, throwing his entire body weight behind it and knocking the man out. Their fight had lasted fifteen minutes, much longer than it needed to, but Logan had learned his lesson in Laughlin City.

He didn't end fights too soon or let any hits touch him that would seriously injure regular humans. And he _never_ popped his claws in front of anyone. He tried not to do anything that would brand him a mutant. The bars that had fight cages and paid a decent amount to the night's winner were few and far between. He didn't want to have to cross any of them off his circuit like he'd been forced to do with Laughlin City.

But he couldn't feel too much regret about popping his claws in the bar in front of Marie. Who knew if she would have trusted him enough to hide in his trailer if she hadn't learned he was a mutant? And to not have known Marie would have been horrible, unthinkable.

Logan had a small cabin he had built in the Canadian wilderness ten years ago, but he had lost almost all of his other earthly possessions when his camper had exploded. He was trying to rebuild his savings from scratch with prize money. In the eight months since he had left Westchester County, he had earned a lot, almost the full amount he'd had before. Of course, that didn't take into account all the possessions he'd had in the camper and the camper, trailer and motorcycle themselves.

The camper had seen better days, of course, but it had served him well in the times when he was traveling and there weren't any motels handy. And the motorcycle had been his pride and joy, having restored it by hand practically from a hunk of scrap metal. He had Scooter's motorcycle now, of course, but it wasn't the same. He had taken the machine to piss off the strait-laced man and because he'd had no other mode of transportation, but he wasn't a thief.

When he went back, and he knew he would to see how Marie was doing and tell Xavier how his search went at the very least, he would return Scott's motorcycle. He was determined to have his own mode of transportation by then. He also needed to have the means to support himself... and Marie if she wanted to leave the school.

Logan had seen how scared the other kids had been of her the night she woke him from his nightmare and had to take his power to heal herself from the wounds he had unwittingly inflicted. He would set her up somewhere else if she was still uncomfortable around Xavier's bunch when he went back. He figured she'd probably have graduated school by then, and living with a bunch of people who were scared to be within five feet of you could drive a person mad. He didn't want that for Marie. She deserved so much better.

He had thought about going straight to Alkali Lake from Xavier's, but he knew if he learned anything he'd want to share it with Marie, and if he didn't, he would immediately want to go and confront Xavier to find out what else the telepath knew. Either way, he would be going back to Salem Center straight from the abandoned military base, and he didn't want to have to depend on anyone else financially when he did.

Logan exited the fight cage and collected his winnings for the night from the manager, heading to the bar for a few beers before he left. The men who ran these fight nights were more welcoming if they knew you spent at least a part of your winnings in their establishments.

As he nursed a beer at the bar, Logan scanned the rest of the interior. There was a pay phone near the men's room, and he thought briefly of calling the mansion. But he had avoided calling so far. He wasn't comfortable with small talk, and the way he had left had been a little awkward. Who would answer the phone if he did call? What would he say? After going this long without hearing from him, Marie was sure to be mad at him, or at least disappointed, and he somehow knew if he did hear her voice he'd want to head straight there. And it wasn't time for that yet.

Logan finished off his second beer of the night and headed out, leaving a generous tip on the counter. There was a motel down the road about two miles and if he turned in and got an early start in the morning he could make it to the next fight bar by tomorrow night.

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"Senator Kelly's office."

"Yes, this is Councilwoman White," Rogue said in her best "official" voice. "I have an appointment to speak with the Senator."

"Of course, Councilwoman," the secretary replied. "Just one moment please."

While she waited on hold, Rogue leaned back in the swivel chair in Mystique's office in the Brotherhood mansion and gently moved the seat from left to right with her feet. Idly she wondered if she could call Scott from this very phone in just under a month. She'd have to ask Mystique if the security of the line extended to all calls or just ones made to Senator Kelly's office.

"Sorry for the wait, Marie," Mystique's voice finally came on the line. "I was talking to a private investigator I've got looking for various privately-funded labs."

Rogue vaguely wondered if Kelly's office was soundproof enough for the secretary not to hear her mother's voice suddenly coming from inside.

"That's okay, Mama. I know what you're doing is important."

"We've been over this before, my daughter, it isn't as important as you." Mystique paused only a moment before moving on. "How are the others treating you?"

"Wanda's great," Rogue replied. "I feel bad about her not knowing about my past with Magento, but she and I have been getting along the last three days like a house on fire. Pietro is giving me a chance because I'm her friend. Avalanche pretty much keeps himself busy in the garage, and Piotr is always somewhere quiet with his drawing tablet. He sits with me sometimes in the library when I'm reading to appease Erik."

"How _are_ the voices?" Mystique asked gently.

Rogue sighed, "It takes more time in the DR and gym to quiet Wolverine than it used to, but controlling he and Erik to a certain degree makes it possible for them to control the others most of the time." She paused for a moment before admitting, "The nightmares are getting worse, though."

"I'm sorry, Marie," Mystique said. "We will find someone to help you."

"I hope so," Rogue replied softly.

There was silence for a moment before Rogue decided to risk the subject of contacting the X-Men.

"Is this line secure for all outgoing calls?"

"Yes, but why?"

"Ever since I left Xavier's, I call in once a month and talk briefly with Cyclops." There was silence on Mystique's end, and Rogue was afraid she had made her mad. "It's only to let them know I'm okay, so they don't try to find me."

"What happens if one of them does, now that you're so close?"

Rogue answered honestly, "I don't know. I'll deal with it if it does happen. But I'm not going back. I don't belong there. And as long as you want to try to be a family again, I want to stay where I can talk to you."

"Thank you for giving me the chance," Mystique replied, a distinct quiver in her voice. "There's... there's something I want you to know. I have two sons."

"I have two brothers?" Rogue questioned, her interest peaked. "Are they somewhere close by?"

"No," Mystique quickly answered. "The first is Graydon Creed. He's completely human and he hates mutants, he'd kill you as soon as he discovered what you are. The other is Kurt Wagner. He also goes by the name Nightcrawler. He's blue and has yellow eyes like me, but he has a tail and cannot change his appearance. I gave them both up when they were very young."

"Wait... Creed, as in Victor Creed?"

Erik had told her the aliases of his other accomplices some time ago.

"Yes, Sabretooth is Graydon's father. I was undercover about forty years ago as someone Sabretooth was involved with. When Graydon was born, I sent him away to be raised at a boarding school. Somehow he found out the truth about his parentage and has sworn to kill his father and me."

"And Kurt?" Rogue asked, still reeling from what Mystique was revealing to her.

"I was living as the wife of a wealthy German count ten years later when I got pregnant by another mutant. When Kurt was born, I had a difficult delivery and slipped, showing my true form. To save myself, I abandoned him. He was raised by circus performers."

'And I'm supposed to believe that you won't abandon me when I'm not even really your own flesh and blood?' Rogue thought miserably.

_She loves you, my dear,_ Erik reminded her. _And she has kept track of her sons_._ If circumstances had been different, maybe she would have kept them both_.

Into the phone, Rogue said, "I'd like to meet Kurt someday, if that's okay."

"Maybe someday," Mystique answered quietly. There was a long pause before she continued, "I have a meeting I have to get to in a few minutes, Rogue. Can you call me the same time next week?"

"Alright."

"I... I love you, Marie. Don't forget that."

Rogue smiled slightly at the assurance and hesitated only a moment before answering, "I love you, too, Mama."

"Thank you for that," Mystique said quietly before hanging up.

Rogue set the receiver back in its cradle and got up. She, Wanda and Pietro were supposed to do a joint session in the DR in an hour and she hadn't eaten lunch yet. On the walk to the kitchen, Rogue removed her gloves. She didn't like to handle food with them on whenever possible, and the others had been planning to eat while she was on the phone. She thought everyone would be safe from her.

Unfortunately, her timing was slightly off. Piotr was just coming out of the kitchen as she walked in, and they accidently ran into each other, Rogue's hands automatically latching onto his arms to stop herself from fully crashing into him. Her bare hands touched his bare arms.

And nothing happened.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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Rogue stared in open-mouthed shock at her bare, white-skinned hand resting on Piotr's tanned flesh. She was so paralyzed by the complete and utter surprise of the lack of pull of her power that she couldn't speak, couldn't think, couldn't even move. Tears came to her eyes and slipped silently down her pale face.

"Rogue?" Piotr asked after a few moments. "Are you okay?"

She lifted her tear-streaked face to look at him, choking out, "I'm... touching you."

Piotr frowned slightly, obviously having forgotten about her power, or else not having realized her hands weren't gloved. He made no move to pull away from her touch, and Rogue could only be grateful for it. It had been so long since she had felt someone else's skin on her own without immediately being sorry for the negative affect it had.

"Perhaps your powers have shut down for some reason?" he asked softly, lifting one hand to wipe the tears from her face.

Gasping at the gentle contact, Rogue had to concentrate on herself for a minute before she could answer, "No. My power is a steady hum beneath my skin that reacts violently the instant I touch someone. It's not reacting to you, but it's still there, waiting. You... you must be immune for some reason."

"Maybe it is because of _my_ mutation," Piotr observed, referencing his ability to turn himself into living organic steel.

Rogue nodded slowly, "Maybe."

Wanda came into the room and Rogue reluctantly pulled away from the first skin-to-skin contact she'd had in a very long time without hurting someone.

"I'm sorry for running into you," she apologized to Piotr.

She excused herself quietly and left to go to her room and think. She completely forgot about lunch.

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After an absent-minded nod in Wanda's direction, Piotr started to leave the kitchen.

"Piotr, wait," Wanda called.

Turning to face her, Piotr waited for Wanda to speak.

"Was Rogue just touching you with her bare skin?" she asked excitedly.

When the redhead made to go after their newest housemate, Piotr stopped her.

"She does not have control, I am simply immune."

"Oh," Wanda said in obvious disappointment. She studied him for a moment thoughtfully. "Do you like Rogue?"

"She is a nice person," he answered warily. "I do not know her well yet."

"Well, none of us do, she's only been here a few days," Wanda responded. "But you can touch her, and I know what that means to her. I think, unless you have some objection, that you should take her out on a date. You may be the only chance she has at a semi-normal life."

Piotr seemed surprised by the thought but nodded slowly, "I will think about it."

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Wanda told Rogue about her idea the next morning, so it wasn't as much of a surprise to Rogue when later that day Piotr tracked her down and asked her out. To ease into the situation easier, they decided on a daytime date. They chose a picnic in the park in the center of town followed by a trip to the New York Museum of Art. Rogue was a little surprised to find that she enjoyed herself for the whole 'date'.

Once they had gotten over their initial awkwardness, they found that they had many things to talk about, and the day had gone by much faster than Rogue had thought it would. It was dark by the time they made it back home.

Standing on the front porch with Piotr, Rogue was suddenly nervous for the first time in hours. Piotr, who must have somehow sensed her nervousness, slowly moved closer to her and dipped his head. Lightly, he brushed his lips over hers. The gesture was soft and pleasant, but nothing more. When Piotr pulled away, Rogue looked up into his dark blue eyes. His expression was guarded. Had he not felt anything either?

"Nothing?" she dared, needing to break the silence that could soon become awkward.

Piotr breathed a sigh of relief at her tone and confirmed, "Nothing. You are a very nice girl and I would like us to be friends, but..."

Piotr shrugged his broad, muscled shoulders.

"I completely agree," Rogue said with a small smile.

It would have been so easy if she had been attracted to him and he to her. Easy to let go of the hope that someday Logan would come back and see her as more than his obligation. Easy to make some kind of life with someone who was immune to her deadly skin, someone she could give all of herself to. A tear escaped to slide down her cheek at the thought.

As he had in the kitchen when they had first discovered he could touch her, Piotr lifted one of his large hands and wiped the tear from her cheek, his hand staying to cup her face for a moment before he let go.

"Maybe there are others who are immune," Rogue mused aloud.

Piotr looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke.

"Any time you need someone to hold hands with, or to hug or just sit next to without having to wear gloves, I am here."

"You'd do that for me?" Rogue asked tremulously.

Piotr raised a hand to cup her face again and said simply, "Yes."

"Thank you," Rogue smiled radiantly.

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"You ready to go?" Rogue asked from the doorway to Piotr's room.

She was about to be separated from the man who had become one of the very few people she had ever called 'best friend', but Rogue knew it was best for him. Piotr was a friendly person by nature, but staying in Magneto's mansion was understandably making him bitter. A month after their failed attempt at a date and the start of their unconventional friendship, Rogue had finally convinced him to tell her why it was that he stayed.

Piotr's older brother, Mikhail, had been a cosmonaut whose shuttle had crashed. Magneto had contacted Piotr and told him that if Piotr worked for him, he'd tell Piotr what the government had done with Mikhail's body. Wanting to ease her friend's turmoil and free him from Magneto's grasp, Rogue had sifted through Magneto's memories. The process had been terrifying, the Erik in her head unable to keep her from reliving his time in the concentration camps despite his best efforts. But in the end, she had been able to tell Piotr that Magneto knew nothing of his brother's final resting place.

Rogue had broken down into tears after, and Piotr had held her in his lap and let her cry for nearly two hours. Having someone who could physically hold and comfort her had helped immensely as it had after nightmares and during times in the past month when she had been suffering greatly from the voices in her head. They talked quietly about their experiences for several minutes before she told him that Xavier's school would be a better place for him.

The only convincing it had taken was Rogue promising that their friendship would not end just because they were no longer living in the same place.

Piotr took one last look around his room and nodded in answer to Rogue's question.

"Then let's get you out of here," Rogue responded, picking up the smallest of his bags and heading for the garage.

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Rogue drove one of the SUVs to Xavier's school, taking into consideration Piotr's larger frame when choosing a vehicle. She pulled up to the gate carefully so she could be seen on the surveillance and talk into the intercom.

"Yes?" a female voice asked when Rogue pushed the call button.

"Is Sc... Mr. Summers there? Tell him it's Rogue."

"Just a minute."

Two minutes later the female voice came back and instructed, "Mr. Summers said to go ahead and park in the garage, he'll meet you there."

"Thank you," Rogue said.

The gates in front of the SUV swung open silently and Rogue drove carefully to the garage, not wanting to give Xavier anything to complain about with her driving on the school property. She took a deep, calming breath as she parked in the garage, and Piotr reached over and gave her hand a little squeeze. She looked over at him and returned his smile with a small one of her own.

When Piotr had asked why she hadn't stayed at Xavier's herself, Rogue had explained what had happened before and after the Statue of Liberty incident. Piotr had understood her reticence. He had also understood, after how well they had gotten to know each other in the past month, why she had been so willing to give Mystique a chance to redeem herself. Piotr and Rogue had shared so much of their lives together that they could at times read each other's minds without use of Rogue's borrowed powers.

"You'll be fine," Piotr assured her.

Rogue smiled. She was supposed to be the one reassuring Piotr that he was making the right choice in living here instead of the Brotherhood House. But instead he was convincing her that she had the right to come back here and ask a favor of the people who had already helped save her life.

The door to the mansion opened to reveal Scott waiting for them, and Rogue slipped her gloves on. She never wore them when it was just she and Piotr.

"Let's go."

They climbed from the vehicle, Scott coming over to help them when Rogue opened the back to get Piotr's bags. Rogue smiled her thanks. They went inside without having spoken, and Scott led them to the main stairs. Bobby and John were there, and Scott asked them to take the bags upstairs.

"Just one room," Rogue told them as they went up.

Scott's eyebrows rose over his ruby glasses.

"It's just Piotr staying, Scott." Rogue laughed lightly. When the X-Man nodded his understanding, Rogue introduced, "Scott Summers, Piotr Rasputin. Piotr, this is Scott."

The two men shook hands, and Scott welcomed Piotr to the school.

"The Professor wants to talk to each of you," Scott told them as he led the way to Xavier's office. Reaching the door, Scott said, "Piotr, you first."

Piotr went into the room alone, Scott staying in the hall with Rogue.

"Why didn't you tell me you were living close by two weeks ago?" Scott asked her.

Rogue shrugged. "The furtherest I went was New York City. I'm stil getting used to where I am now."

Scott pushed for more detail, "And where are you now? I've been worried, Rogue."

"North Salem," she answered, ignoring his comment about worrying about her.

Scott probably worried about every mutant who came through the school, with the exception of Logan, of course. It was part of what made him a good field leader.

"That close?" Scott asked, surprise evident in his voice.

"Yes."

Before Scott could ask her any more questions, Piotr came back out of the office, smiling at Rogue. Bobby showed up a few seconds later, telling them that the Professor had requested his presence.

"Bobby will show you to a room," Scott told Piotr.

Piotr nodded and turned to Rogue, looking slightly unsure. They had decided that since he was the only one immune to her, they wouldn't share that knowledge with any more people than was necessary. But that presented a problem when Piotr wanted to say goodbye to her, and she to him. Throwing caution to the wind, Rogue smiled and opened her arms. Pitor wrapped his arms around her and lifted her a foot off the ground in a powerful hug.

"Ya budu sku chai," he said softly in her ear.

Rogue smiled sadly; over the past month he had taught her some Russian phrases. "I'll miss you, too. Ya lu blue ti biah."

"And I love you, my dearest friend," Piotr responded. "If you do not stick to our agreement of meeting once a week, I will come kidnap you."

Rogue laughed softly and nodded.

When Piotr released Rogue, Bobby motioned for the new resident of the school to follow him. Scott waited until Piotr was out of sight before ushering Rogue into Xavier's office.

"Good morning, Rogue," Xavier greeted as if she had not seen him for eight hours instead of the eight months that had passed.

"Good morning."

Rogue didn't address him, not sure whether she'd end up calling him Charles as Erik was wont to, or Chuck as Logan did to mess with him. When he stared at her for a few moments, she wondered briefly if he was trying to read her mind. And then she wondered if he could.

"I take it from the emotions of your friend Mr. Rasputin that you will not be staying with us?"

Taking the way he worded his question as a sign that he had not been able to get into her head, Rogue nodded, "That's right. But I did want to pay you back what I owe you, and I had a favor to ask."

Pulling an envelope with as much money as he had given her when she left, as well as a little extra, out of her pocket, she set it on his desk.

He didn't move to touch the envelope, only lifted his eyebrows and asked, "What favor?"

"I need to see Magneto," she said firmly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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Scott made a disapproving noise, and Xavier asked Scott to leave the room so he and Rogue could talk in private. When Scott had closed the door behind him, Xavier sat forward slightly and studied Rogue.

"Why is it that you want to see Magneto after all this time?"

"It's personal," Rogue replied. She sighed softly. "It involves more than just me and I'm not at liberty to discuss it."

Xavier studied her for several minutes before responding.

"I'm not sure it would be in your best interest, Rogue. Magneto hurt you, and… I think even more importantly in your mind… he hurt someone you care very deeply about."

She blocked the flood of memories that threatened at his words, but several scenarios of possible revenge flashed through her mind, some of her own design and some courtesy of her Inner Wolverine. The Erik in her head flinched at all of them. She pushed them aside. Revenge was inconsequential when weighed against what she had the chance to get back.

"I promise I won't touch him or try to hurt him in anyway, no matter how much he deserves it."

Xavier didn't look convinced. The second half of her sentence probably hadn't helped her case any.

"Please," Rogue pled, willing him to feel her desperation but not the reason behind it. "There is something only he can tell me that I have to know."

Finally, Xavier conceded with a sigh. "Well, I must say you have impeccable timing, Rogue. I'm leaving in half an hour to visit him myself. You understand that you'll have to be blindfolded on the way. Also, you'll need to change into something without any metal."

"Thank you," Rogue said. "Would it be possible to borrow a pair of sweats or something?"

"Storm is waiting for you in the hall, I'll have her find you something. She'll bring you to the garage when it's time to go."

Knowing a dismissal when she heard one, Rogue got up and left the office. Storm was waiting for her in the hall, and after brief pleasantries, she took Rogue down to the team changing room. Rogue put on a sweat suit with an X logo at the hip and shoulder, and borrowed a sports bra from Storm because Jean's were even smaller than the Weather Witch's, and even hers were too snug on Rogue. Until Storm's gentle reminder, Rogue hadn't even taken into consideration the fact that the hook-and-eye closures of her regular bra were metal.

Rogue vacillated when it came time to take off Logan's dogtag. It had rarely left her neck in the last eight months, but she knew it wouldn't be allowed in the prison. When she unclasped the chain from around her neck, she felt bare. Rogue carefully tucked the precious metal piece and its chain deep into her jeans pocket and put her things into a locker, making sure no one was in the room before using her borrowed control over metal to fuse the door shut. Now no one could go through her things while she was gone.

When she exited the locker room, Storm smiled at her and told her it was time to go. As the two women walked toward the garage, Rogue finally asked what she had been too caught up in other things to ask Xavier.

"Has Logan come back yet?"

Storm gave her a sympathetic look and shook her head, "No. And he has not contacted any of us in any way, either. You must remember that Logan was on his own for a long time before he met you or the rest of us. He may not realize how much his friends worry."

Rogue thanked Storm with her eyes and the older woman smiled softly. Storm left Rogue at the door to the garage, and Rogue steeled herself for the journey. She wasn't a big fan of traveling blindfolded.

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Rogue's blindfold was finally removed when they were in the elevator inside the prison. The walls were white and temporarily blinded her. Logan's senses compensated for the weakness of her own and she only had to blink once before her sight cleared. There was a guard in the elevator with she, Xavier and Scott. Rogue wondered what he thought of a visitor being brought in blindfolded.

As sometimes happened when she had thoughts like that, Xavier's power kicked in and Rogue could hear what was in the guard's head.

Milk, bread, butter and eggs. Wasn't there something else Heather wanted me to pick up? She's gonna kill me if I don't remember.

Rogue stifled a laugh and forcefully turned off the runaway mindreading ability. Evidently, if the guard'd had an opinion about her, it had been a fleeting one. All amusement left Rogue as the elevator stopped and the door slid open. The room they walked (or wheeled in Xavier's case) into contained three guards, a lot of surveillance equipment, and a sophisticated metal detector. Just how much money were they spending to keep Magneto locked up? If they considered him as big a threat as he truly was, wouldn't it be more efficient to arrange an 'accident'?

"This is one of Lensherr's distant relatives," Xavier explained to the main guard who had given them a questioning look. "She needed to see him for personal reasons."

Rogue almost got angry at the lie. Related to Magneto? No thank you. A niggling little voice in the back of her head reminded her that she was actually happy that Mystique was her adopted mother, and Mystique had been at Liberty Island too. She firmly reminded the voice that Mystique hadn't truly been herself at the time.

The guard frowned and told Xavier, "Only one visitor a week, you know the rules."

Rogue's heart almost stopped. She couldn't have come this far, asked for and received this favor from Xavier, just to have it be for nothing. But she hadn't given Xavier enough credit.

"Very well, she'll visit him today and I'll come back next week."

Relief rushed through her and Rogue toed off her tennis shoes. She knew she would be unable to wear them in because of the metal grommets on the lace holes. She had not thought to ask for metal-less shoes when changing at the school.

_I apologize in advance for anything he does or says_, the Erik in her head said as one of the guards instructed her to step into the scanner.

'Don't take this the wrong way,' she thought back, 'but please shut up while I'm in there. I don't think I could handle two of you at once.'

_Very well, my dear_.

Rogue got the distinct impression that the echo of Erik in her brain was amused. She mentally stuck her tongue out at him.

The guard near the metal detector gave a nod and another of the guards pressed a button on his machine. A plastic tube began to stretch between the plastic box Magneto was being kept in and the room she was about to leave. The guard who had scanned her opened the doorway and lead her toward the man who had killed her eight months before.

If Magneto was surprised to see her, the lifting of his eyebrows was her only clue. The guard instructed her tocome to the door when she was done, and Rogue nodded absently, her eyes locked on Magneto as if he were her prey.

When the guard was gone and the tunnel had begun retracting, Rogue sat in the extra chair in the room and played with the finger of one of her gloves. Magneto's eyes fell to her hands and he paled visibly. It made his gauntness more pronounced. Rogue mentally slapped herself when she began feeling sorry for him.

"Oh, relax," she said bitterly. "I promised Charles that I wouldn't touch you."

Rogue thought she saw his mouth twitch at one corner and realized she had used Magneto's name for Xavier.

_Great_, she thought, _now I've amused both of him_.

"Then why _are_ you here? Does Charles think throwing you in my face is going to convince me to renounce my wicked ways and join his team?"

He seemed so calm, sitting there and watching her for a reaction. Memories of her own and of Logan's of what this man had done to both of them flooded her mind briefly. Rogue had an overwhelming urge to reach out and suck him dry, more for Logan than her. But she couldn't orphan Wanda and Pietro, and she refused to let Magneto provoke her into doing something that would hurt people she cared about. And considering the fact that she was already fidgety after a few minutes in here, she could only imagine that she'd be doing a favor releasing him from his 'mortal coil'.

Not sure how to ask what she had come to and nervous about Xavier telepathically listening in to Magneto's side of it, Rogue stood up and paced for a moment before sitting back down.

"I don't really know what Xavier thinks and I don't care to," Rogue answered Magneto's question. She looked around the plastic room. "You have a cozy little set up here. But it's a bit like phantom limb syndrome, isn't it?"

Magneto frowned, a suspicious look on his face. "Isn't what?"

Rogue looked directly at him. "No metal." She saw understanding dawn in his light blue eyes but continued on. "I can feel it everywhere I go, you know. It's almost comforting. It's always around in some form or other. But in here…" she shook her head, "nothing. The power in me keeps reaching out, hoping to find some small speck for comfort."

Magneto smiled, a calculating kind of smile. "Charles must enjoy having such a powerful weapon."

She didn't ask him what he meant, only looked bored and responded, "He doesn't have me."

When she didn't expand on the remark, Magneto frowned again, impatient this time. "_Why_ are you here?"

"Where's Mesmero?" Rogue asked bluntly.

The satisfaction she felt when he paled as the smirk fell from his face was vicious, a side effect of Logan's increased presence in her head that resulted from Erik's absence. It was an odd truth to realize the two men balanced each other so well in her head, but a truth nonetheless.

"How much has she remembered, and how?" Magneto asked, his face still pale, worry in his eyes.

It surprised Rogue to think he might actually care about her adoptive mother as more than just another of his weapons. That he cared that Mystique would understandably be angry with him. It was hard to think of him as a person with real emotions considering what he had done to her, but she knew very well from past experience with the Erik in her head that he did, indeed, have very strong feelings. She sometimes forgot that the Erik in her head was the same person as the one who had sacrificed her life to further his own agenda.

"Destiny, and not enough," Rogue answered Magneto's questions in reverse order.

Magneto nodded slowly, his eyes flicking away from her. When they returned to her after a minute, they were reserved.

"I suppose I owe both of you that much."

Rogue snorted in anger, "You _suppose_?"

Magneto ignored her outburst, and Rogue wasn't sure if she was grateful or wanted to slug him for it. Probably both.

"He's probably holed up at the warehouse in the garment district. She'll know where it is."

Neither one of them had said Mystique's name the whole time, Rogue out of fear of Xavier listening in. It suddenly dawned on her that Magneto was afraid of being heard as well. She glanced at speakers that had been piping in classical music since her arrival, almost sure now that they were two way intercoms and not just speakers. Someone could be listening to them or recording their conversation.

Rogue sighed and stood up, "I'm not going to thank you."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

Approaching the sealed circle the tunnel to the guardroom attached to, Rogue nodded. The guards saw her and began extending the tunnel. The Logan in her head was growling at her, encouraging her to forget her promise to 'Chuck' and make Magneto pay. When her feet began to itch with the need to turn around back toward Magneto, Rogue begged Erik to come to the fore and subdue Logan. He did so quickly but stayed quiet in deference to her still-churning emotions of being so close to Magneto.

"Did you get what you needed?" Xavier asked her when they were back in the elevator.

"Yes," she answered quietly. "Thank you for bringing me."

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Pietro and Wanda were waiting for her just inside the door from the garage when she got home. Neither one of them looked very happy. In fact, Wanda looked worried and Pietro was mad. Trying to figure out if she had forgotten to do something she was supposed to, Rogue hung the keys to the SUV back on the rack on the wall. When she faced them again, they still had the same looks on their faces.

"Something wrong, guys?"

Wanda's eyes narrowed slightly, "Are you really our friend or are you just here to spy on us?"

"What?" Rogue asked in shock.

"There's a tracking device on all the vehicles, Rogue," Pietro informed her coldly. "We know you were at Xavier's."

Rogue relaxed slightly. She had known that this day would come. If they accepted her past, great. If not, she would move again. Mystique had said if she was ever uncomfortable in the House, she'd find another way for she and Rogue to stay in touch.

"I told you I was taking Piotr to a mutant safehouse."

"You were there for hours," Pietro retorted. "It doesn't take that long just to drop somebody off."

_Just tell them everything_, Erik urged in her head. _It will only be more difficult if they find out later_.

"How much do you know about Xavier?" Rogue asked, sitting on one of the kitchen stools.

This might take awhile and it had already been a long day.

"He and our father were once friends, but Xavier wants to live in peace with humans, even if it means being treated as inferior," Pietro said in a rush. "So now he sends his _X-Men_ to get in the way of things."

He said 'X-Men' like it was a swear word.

Wanda tried to be the voice of reason. "Pietro and I have had our powers for nearly ten years. We know through our father that Xavier has been able to find us with Cerebro that whole time. But he only tried to recruit us once our father entered our lives. All that time that he could have been helping us, and he waited. It doesn't exactly make us want to trust him."

Rogue nodded. "I can understand that. I don't always understand or agree with Xavier's motives, which was part of the reason I left there." Rogue sighed, thinking about Xavier's unwillingness to tell Logan everything he knew. Feeling how she did about that, why hadn't she just told the whole story to the Brotherhood right away? But she knew the answer to that. She had wanted them to accept her, and she had feared that they wouldn't. "I'm going to tell you my side of what happened. You can ask Mama to verify anything you don't believe. If you… if you don't think you can stand having me in the House with you, I'll move out."

Pietro and Wanda shared a look before they both nodded their agreement. Slowly, leaving off personal feelings as much as possible, she told them the story of the events leading up to their father's imprisonment. Her voice broke several times when it came to that night up at the torch, but she pushed on, not wanting to leave anything out now that she was telling them her story.

When she was done, Pietro had his head in his hands and Wanda was staring off into space, shock clear on her face. Rogue, knowing she had to give them time to process everything and make their decision, told them she had to go call Mystique and went to her mother's office. She curled up in the desk chair in the room and cried for twenty minutes before she got herself together. She placed the call that hadn't been scheduled but which had to be made.

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Not quite two hours after she had gotten an emergency phone call from Rogue, Mystique was instructing her helicopter pilot (a human-looking mutant with minor sensory powers she had hired herself to replace Kelly's old pilot) to land on the roof of the Brotherhood House. No sooner had the legs of the chopper touched the roof than Rogue was inside and buckling her seatbelt. Mystique smiled softly, just as anxious as Rogue to retrieve their memories.

The twenty minute flight to a privately owned helipad on an office building passed in silence. They were both too excited and nervous to say anything. Mesmero was indeed in the warehouse Magneto had referenced. To say he was shocked to see Mystique and Rogue together was the understatement of all time. The gun Mystique pulled on him and the metal bar Rogue manipulated to secure him to his chair quickly convinced him to reverse what he had done to both of their brains.

Mystique let Rogue go first to keep an eye on the other mutant. When he moved his hands away from Rogue, Rogue staggered a few steps away and closed her eyes.

"She's reliving the memories you had me remove," Mesmero said to Mystique's concerned look. "Your turn."

She had only a split second to worry about his tone before his hands were hovering inches from either side of her head. A dull pain filled her brain as her eyes slammed shut, memories flying by at an amazing rate. Memories of Irene and Marie and their happy but relatively short time as a family. Memories of the last few weeks of Irene's life and Mystique turning to Erik, whom she had known for some time, for comfort when her love had died. That had been when Erik began his plan to use Marie. When Mystique had expressed her emphatic unwillingness to use Rogue that way, he'd called in Mesmero.

But Mesmero wasn't done with her. The next group of memories he released were older, and they shook Mystique to her core and broke her heart. The amount of time encompassed by the second set of memories was much shorter, a year at most, and had ended nearly twenty years ago. Mystique felt herself collapse to the ground as Mesmero laughed slightly and moved away from her.

Mystique forced her eyes open to glance over at Rogue. The younger woman still had her eyes closed and she was smiling softly, probably at some favorite memory she was reliving.

Rogue must have felt her staring, because her eyes opened. Tears were streaming silently down Rogue's face, but she smiled brilliantly at Mystique.

"I remember," she whispered in awe.

Mystique smiled back, but even she could tell it hadn't been a convincing effort.

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Settling into her seat in the helicopter, Rogue noticed that Mystique was still quiet and withdrawn. They had left Mesmero behind, promising intense pain followed by a brutal death if he ever affected either of them again, whether by their request or someone else's. He had accepted the threat, but there had still been a malicious glint in his eye as he looked between the two of them. Rogue had to wonder what he knew that made him so sadistically pleased with himself. But he was behind them now, and her only immediate concern was her adoptive mother.

"Mama? What's wrong?"

Mystique smiled, though the gesture didn't reach her eyes. "Nothing… it's just the memories. It's like losing Irene all over again."

Rogue had the strange feeling that it was more than that, but she nodded. She, too, felt the pain of losing her foster mother as if it had happened yesterday. When Irene and Mystique had decided not to take her with them to Austria, Rogue had been forced to say her goodbyes just before the memory wipe. She'd never had the chance to grieve. She didn't know how much worse it would be for Mystique, who had loved Irene and been with her at the end.

The flight back to the House went faster than Rogue thought it would, and Mystique made no move to get out of the helicopter when it landed.

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"In two weeks the Senate will have a break and be out of session for a month," Mystique said. "I'll be back then."

Rogue nodded and leaned forward to hug Mystique.

"Bye, Mama," she called as she climbed from the helicopter and moved far enough away for it to take off.

Mystique signaled for her pilot to take off, swallowing the guilt that told her to land and stay here. To forget her charade as the Senator now that she knew what she had forgotten, both by force and by choice. But if she stayed, she'd have to explain to Marie. And she wasn't sure she could face how Marie would react to the truth. Ignoring the tears streaming down her own face, Mystique watched out the window of the helicopter until her daughter was no longer even a speck.

Her _biological_ daughter.

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**Author's Note:** I am not entirely clear on Mesmero or how his powers work, but he's just a fall guy for the situation at hand. So if I got it wrong, forgive me and move on ;). And please review! Thanks.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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"So who is this Mesmero person Rogue asked Magneto about?" Scott asked Xavier. "And who was the 'she' they both referred to?"

They were sitting in Xavier's office at the end of an eventful day. Scott had held in his questions for when he and Xavier were alone, figuring the older man would be more inclined to talk about their trip to just him since Scott was the only one Xavier ever allowed to take him to see Magneto. And even though Scott knew Xavier would probably allow Jean in on their conversation, Scott didn't like talking about Rogue in front of her. Jean had never gotten close to Rogue, and she didn't always understand why Scott cared as much as he did. Scott thought Jean might be a little mad that Rogue had 'abandoned' them.

Scott was worried about Rogue. She had seemed fine, physically at least. Her clothes were obviously fairly new, and she seemed to have put on a little of the weight she had to have lost living on the road before meeting up first with Logan and then with the X-Men. She looked good. And in Scott's opinion, she was actually starting to look like a young woman instead of the school-age teenager they had previously mistaken her to be.

But she had been tense the entire time she was at the school, even before she had known she'd be going to see Magneto that very day. And she had left as soon as she had changed back into her own clothes when they got back from the prison. Scott hoped it was simply because she had been nervous for her friend Piotr and because she hadn't been back in so long. He'd hate to think that she didn't feel able to come to them whenever she needed to.

"I'm not sure who Mesmero is, I'll have to look into it," Xavier answered. "As for the 'she', there are very few women Erik would be worried about upsetting, and I don't know why any of them would be of any import to Rogue."

Scott felt his heart sink slightly. Xavier seemed so omniscient at times that it disappointed Scott a little when something happened to make him realize that Xavier really wasn't.

"How much _do_ we know about her past?" Scott asked. "She told me once that the D'Ancanto's were actually her foster parents, but she never said anything about her real family."

Xavier sighed, "I am not aware of any more of Rogue's past than you are, Scott. You probably know her best of any of us since you're the one she calls every month."

Scott fidgeted in his seat for a few minutes. "Maybe we could find out what Piotr knows about her. They actually hugged in the hall, so she obviously trusts him."

"And that is exactly why we should not pressure the young man to tell us her business. We both know that Rogue does not trust lightly. It wouldn't be right of us to take away the sanctuary Piotr represents."

"You're right," Scott sighed. He stood and moved to leave the room, asking at the last minute, "You'll tell me whatever you find out about Mesmero?"

Xavier nodded absently.

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Wanda and Pietro were once more waiting for Rogue when she got home. This time they had let themselves into her room. Wanda had probably been the one to know that when Rogue got back she'd head straight to her room to think. It was touching and annoying at the same time to have a friend that knew her that well and barged in anyway. If Wanda still _was_ her friend.

"Well," Rogue asked, not feeling the desire to drag this out, "what did you decide?"

"We thought about what you told us and the fact that you've been our friend for nearly a month and a half," Wanda answered. "It's disappointing to know you didn't trust us with the knowledge of where you came from, but in a way we can understand. We had to tell Avalanche and Remy so everyone could make a decision as a group."

Pietro began pacing the room, Rogue grateful that at least he wasn't doing so at hyper speed. Trying to watch him when he did so always gave her a headache. Rogue nodded in acknowledgment of what Wanda had said.

"We all discussed the situation and decided to let you stay since you've never done anything else that would make us not trust you." Wanda clarified, "But from now on you need to be honest with us. If you hide something big from us again, we'll ask you to leave."

"And no bringing any of _them_ here," Pietro added in a tight voice.

Rogue paled, "Not even Piotr?"

Pietro's face softened as he studied her, and he shook his head, "Nah, the Tin Man can still come over."

"Thank you, Speedy," Rogue said softly.

Pietro's mouth twitched upward at the corners in response to the nickname. With a slight nod in her direction, he was gone.

"Something else is bothering you, isn't it?" Wanda asked when Pietro had left the room.

Rogue sighed softly. "It's Mama. She just seemed so sad when she got her memories back. I miss Mama Irene and I'm sure it's worse for her, but I _am_ happy to have my memories back. It… it seemed like she wasn't."

Wanda laid a gentle hand on Rogue's sleeve. "I'm sure that's not true." After a quiet moment, Wanda asked, "Is your Logan one of the X-Men?"

Rogue's mouth twisted wryly as her hand came up to hold the dog tag hanging around her neck. "He's not _my_ Logan, and not really. He helped them when they had to save me, but he's not exactly a joiner. He's out somewhere chasing down his past as far as anyone knows. He was there an even shorter time than I was and most of the time he was at the school he was unconscious from Sabretooth's original attack and touching me twice."

"You miss him," Wanda observed from the wistful tone Rogue's speech had taken.

"Everyday," Rogue answered honestly. "But I'm not sure what would happen if I ever saw him again. He wouldn't exactly approve of the choices I've made, the echo I have of him in my head has made that abundantly clear any time he surfaces. And it's unlikely the real Logan would hold still long enough for me to explain everything to him."

"So if he came back and told you to move back in with Xavier's people, would you?"

"No," Rogue answered firmly. "I could never be happy there. I'd like to think that Logan would want me to be happy, even if his feelings for me are less than I'd like them to be."

"You want to go out and do something? Or maybe stay here and do a DR session?"

Rogue smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Wanda, but maybe tomorrow? I need to think about everything that's happened today."

Wanda returned Rogue's smile. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

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Though she was supposed to be working, Mystique was lost in her memories of twenty years before. Raven Darkholme had been forced to go into hiding in Caldecott County, Mississippi when one of her schemes had gone particularly sour. From plenty of past experience, she had known it was easier to hide out with someone who didn't now you were hiding out than it was to do so alone.

Raven would have preferred latching onto a rich man for the duration, but the easiest male to manipulate in the bar she went into that night was not rich by any stretch of the imagination. He was thrilled when she got pregnant soon after she moved in, Raven never feeling the need to tell him there was a chance it might not be his, but when the child was born he made it very clear that he would have preferred a son.

She had been a beautiful child, but a decidedly human one. Raven had not been willing to raise a human child. She hoped, of course, that her daughter wouldn't grow to hate mutants like her first son had, but it was a risk she was willing to take. Her life was not one that allowed an attachment with someone who depended on her as much as a child would. And she wasn't willing to give that life up.

Raven had only stayed long enough to name her daughter Marie and to make sure the baby accepted a bottle. She might not have been willing to raise the girl, but she didn't want her to die. In the years that followed, Raven had occasionally made her way back to check on her daughter. It was when Marie was around three and a half years old that Raven actually came into contact with her in the guise of a babysitter. In those short hours the young Marie's sweet nature and generous heart had made Raven begin to regret her decision. It had been that event that had made her go to Mesmero and erase Marie from her mind.

She could only wonder now if Irene had known that Marie was Raven's biological daughter when they had adopted her at the age of twelve when Marie's powers had first manifested. Raven had no way of finding out.

Her secretary opening the door and walking in snapped Mystique out of her musings.

The woman smiled and set several file folders down on the Senator's desk, telling 'him' which ones simply needed a signature and which ones required more attention.

"And don't forget your conference call at one thirty with Senators Bryant and Holmes," the secretary finished.

"Thank you, Kathy," Mystique replied absently.

Mystique settled in to work. If she was going to be able to take off the full month that the Senate was out of session, she needed to wrap things up as best she could in the next two weeks. She'd worry about whether or not to tell Rogue the full truth later. She had to put off thinking about it or the guilt would tear her apart.

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Rogue was curled up with a book in her window seat when she heard the unmistakable sound of an approaching helicopter. Though she hadn't been expecting Mystique until the next day, Rogue excitedly jumped up from her perch and shoved her feet into a pair of shoes. She made it to the roof and the helipad there just as Mystique was stepping down from the passenger side seat. Mystique smiled and moved forward to embrace Rogue.

"I missed you, Mama," Rogue said as she carefully hugged her mother.

Not having pulled on a pair of gloves, Rogue was cautious about only putting her hands where cloth covered the other woman's blue skin.

"I missed you, too, Marie," Mystique responded in a whisper. Turning from Rogue after their hug ended, Mystique told the helicopter pilot, "Be ready to depart in half an hour."

Rogue frowned. "I thought you were going to spend your time off with me. You're leaving again?"

"No, no, of course not," Mystique quickly answered. "I just have a recon mission to go on and a limited time frame to do it in. I stopped here to see if you wanted to come with me, otherwise I would have been back tomorrow like we discussed."

"Alright, do you want me to go get the others?"

"No, just you and me this time. It's a two man mission at the most."

"I'll get changed and meet you back here then," Rogue responded, the smile back in place on her face.

Rogue hurried to the women's changing room down the hall from the DR to get dressed. A little over a month before, Rogue had received a uniform from Forge, a man her mother apparently used as the Brotherhood's tech supplier. Although he was not a member nor did he live in the House, Forge had made the uniforms of all the Brotherhood members.

The bodysuits were made of an advanced material that was a hybrid of mostly Kevlar and spandex. They were formfitting without being obscenely tight and allowed full range of movement, something the Wolverine in her had greatly appreciated after the stiffness and restrictive quality of the X-Men's leather uniforms. The suits were tear-resistant and also featured some heat and cold resistance as well. Rogue thought they were wonderful.

Mystique had actually designed Rogue's uniform without her input, but Rogue loved it. The long-sleeved bodysuit was a rich forest green with black accents, including slender rectangles that lay about an inch below her collarbone and large sections of black on the outer edges of each leg that ran all the way up to her armpits and then ran down the inner side of her sleeves. The collar of the bodysuit extended up from her shoulders about an inch, but the front of the collar was open, a V that plunged several inches to reveal a glimpse of her cleavage and showed off the chain and dog tag she always wore. A pair of black boots that came up to just above her knees complemented the outfit.

Rogue wore a simple pair of thin black silk gloves that stopped at her wrists with her uniform so she could peel them off quickly if she had to. She was still trying to figure out what to do with her gloves if she ever had to take them off in a fight. With any luck, she wouldn't have to find out today. She strapped her sheath of throwing knives around her thigh just in case. If she could be attacked by an outside force while hitching a ride with Logan in the wilderness of Canada, she could certainly run across trouble on a reconnaissance mission.

"Ready?" Mystique asked when Rogue made her way back to the roof.

"For anything," Rogue responded, lightly running gloved fingers over the handles of her chosen weapons.

Mystique smiled.

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The group they were going to get information on was one that Mystique had discovered in her position as Senator Kelly. The group had donated a lot to Kelly's last campaign, and from what Mystique had been able to uncover, it was a front for a darker organization. One with active anti-mutant activities that wasn't happy with Kelly's change of stance on the mutant issue. Mystique, in her guise as the Senator, had been able to find a person on the inside willing to pass 'him' information for a price.

The location and info about this building had been one of those things. There was a computer system in the building that according to the contact contained information about the real organization and its members and holdings. Mystique had been presented the opportunity and means to retrieve the information to use at a later time if the need arose, including keycards she would need to get into the building without setting off the alarms.

The facility was in a heavily wooded area, and the helicopter would land in a clearing a few miles behind the building, with Mystique and Rogue hiking in together. It being the Friday preceding Memorial Day, the building was closed for the weekend and was running on a skeleton staff of two security guards. Easy pickings for Mystique alone, and with Rogue at her side? Not even a blip on their collective radar.

Strapping a gun at her waist just in case, Mystique offered Rogue a firearm as well, but the younger woman had never trained with guns. That fact got them into a discussion of all the things Mystique could teach her and how they could make training a part of their day-to-day activities while Mystique was home.

As they drew closer to their destination, Mystique gave Rogue the building's schematics in case they got separated for some reason. Rogue studied them in silence, both Erik and the Wolverine helping her understand the blueprints and decipher them for possible emergency exits. By the time the helicopter descended into a small clearing, Rogue was both nervous and excited. She was going on her first mission. She ruthlessly squashed her inner Logan when he pointed out with a sneer who she was going on the mission with. No matter what had happened since, the Logan in Rogue's head refused to forgive Mystique for her part in the events that had led up to the Statue of Liberty incident.

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The only sign that their intel was off was the fact that there were four guards instead of two. Still, they presented no problem for Rogue and Mystique. After they were knocked out, the three men and one woman were bound and gagged in case they woke before Rogue and Mystique had left. Mystique moved quickly through the facility to where the computer station she was going to access was located, Rogue following cautiously behind.

Having the strange sensation of being watched as she stood behind her seated, hard-at-work mother, Rogue began to wander the room they had ended up in.

"You can explore if you want to," Mystique commented as her slender fingers flew over the keyboard. "This may take a little while."

"Alright," Rogue responded. "Holler if you need me."

They both knew she didn't mean aloud.

Rogue wandered aimlessly down one hallway and around a corner, freezing in her tracks when she came face to face with another guard. He opened his mouth, maybe to call for help, but Rogue was able to get in a good punch that knocked the man into the wall. She knelt quickly to make sure he was out before turning and racing back the way she had come. If he had been about to call for help, there was no telling how many more people were in the building.

But as Rogue reentered the room where she had left Mystique, all concerns but the one now playing out in front of her vanished. A blonde woman was holding her adoptive mother a few feet off the floor, slowly choking the life out of Mystique. The blue shapeshifter was changing forms rapidly, trying to escape her attacker's hold, but it wasn't working.

"Let go of my Mama!" Rogue shrieked as she launched herself at the stranger.

Rogue was surprised when the woman swatted her away as if she weighed nothing, but because of her training Rogue was able to control her fall and minimize her own injuries. She got up again quickly, realizing that the other woman was also a mutant, evidently one with super strength.

'Two can play at that game,' Rogue thought as she peeled her gloves off.

_Be careful, my dear,_ Erik cautioned her as she approached the blonde a second time.

Luckily, Mystique's renewed efforts to free herself distracted the woman long enough for Rogue to be able to come up behind her. Mentally bracing herself for the assault of yet another mind inside her own, Rogue clamped her hands to the blonde's exposed neck.

Both women screamed at once, the blonde… Carol Danvers, her memories soon told Rogue… letting go of Mystique. Rogue tried desperately to pull her hands away from Carol's skin, the normal pulling sensation amplified somehow, but Carol grasped Rogue's hands in her own. Rogue couldn't let go. Power and the tingle Rogue knew was the other woman's life force coursed into her with alarming speed.

Rogue tried to scream again, but everything outside of her own head had gone quiet. She tried to call on Erik to help her, but he didn't answer. In a panic, Rogue tried to call forth _any_ of the other personalities she had ever absorbed, but none of them responded. Even her own thoughts were growing dim. Carol's fear and anger were quickly drowning out everything else. If something didn't happen soon to separate their skin to skin contact, Carol would be the only thing left. There would be no more Rogue.

Rogue concentrated every last bit of her strength into Xavier's power and begged her mother to help her. She was too far gone to truly realize that she also called on the other important people in her life.

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Mystique was not the only one to receive Rogue's psychic scream for help. The five people Rouge trusted and cared for most, including her mother, were simultaneously contacted through the astral plane, though none of them could personally access it. Mystique, being in the same room and trying to figure out how to get the blonde woman away from her daughter, though nothing of the power behind the telepathic cry for help. Wanda, Piotr, Scott and Logan each reacted differently to the sudden sensation.

Wanda… help… 

Wanda was in the living room at the Brotherhood House watching TV with her brother and Avalanche. She jumped up suddenly from the couch, startling the two men. They looked blankly up at her, awaiting an explanation for the sudden movement.

"You didn't hear that?" she asked with an edge of hysteria in her voice.

"Hear what, sis?"

"Rogue… something's happened to her, something bad."

Avalanche and Pietro exchanged a look. The knowledge that she could sometimes call on powerful telepathic abilities had been one of the things Rogue had seen fit to tell them after they had implemented the 'honesty policy' but none of them had actually experienced her using the ability before.

"She and Mystique are on a recon mission, aren't they?" Avalanche asked.

Wanda didn't answer him, demanding instead, "Do either of you have an emergency cell phone number for Mystique?"

Avalanche and Pietro shook their heads.

"Oh, God," Wanda moaned. "There's nothing we can do until they come back."

Piotr… help… 

Piotr swore colorfully in Russian as his charcoal slipped, marring the still life he was working on. He could have sworn he was alone in the art room, but he often became completely focused on his art. Rogue's voice, especially with how terrified she sounded, had surprised him.

It took him only seconds more to realize se must have called him telepathically from a great distance. Her voice in his head had been as strong as the few times she had communicated with him that way while actually in the same room, but he knew she wasn't at the school. Still uncomfortable with coming and going to and from Xavier's, Rogue always called before showing up to spend time with him, and because Mystique was due back at the Brotherhood House soon, Piotr didn't expect to hear from Rogue for at least a few days.

That didn't mean Rogue wasn't somehow in trouble. Piotr knew she wasn't the type of person to use a power like telepathy to play pranks (heaven help them if someone like St. John Allerdyce or Bobby Drake ever had the ability). Because he was still new to the school, Piotr knew he had to find someone of authority to help him decide what to do.

Knowing Rogue wasn't at all close to Dr. Grey and that Xavier wasn't at the school at the moment, Piotr went in search of Mr. Summers.

Scott… help… 

In the middle of grading papers, Scott wasn't as startled by the psychic cry as the others. After all, he had a psychic rapport with Jean that had served them both in times of need, and he had lived in Xavier's school since his mid teens. He was used to telepathic communication, sometimes unintended when the telepath in question was particularly stressed or unconscious.

What did surprise him was that the voice in his head was decidedly not his fiancé's or his mentor's. It was Rogue's. And she sounded hauntingly desperate.

Scott waited a moment, but didn't feel any worry from Jean, so he knew she had not been on the receiving end of the scream as he had. He didn't think the Professor had either, but it was possible he was wrong. The older man was on Muir Island visiting his friend and former lover, Moira MacTaggert. With a frustrated sigh at knowing he wouldn't be able to help Rogue until she physically called them, if she even did, Scott finished grading the last paper, neatly stacking them in his drawer to return to his afternoon class the next day.

Out in the hall he ran into Piotr, and after Scott learned that the slightly younger man had also gotten the telepathic cry for help, the two of them went to Professor Xavier's office. Piotr placed the call to the Brotherhood House, not telling Scott where he was calling. Pietro answered the phone and confirmed that Rogue was not there and that Wanda had also received a cry for help.

Not mentioning names, Piotr told Scott that Rogue was out of contact with everyone at the moment and that they weren't the only ones worried. Though Scott was frustrated to be kept in the dark so much, the two men decided to remain in the office and wait for Rogue to call them.

Logan… help… love you 

Logan shot straight out of his motel bed, landing lightly on his feet on the floor's threadbare carpet, claws gleaming in the moonlight streaming in through the half-drawn curtains. His bare chest was heaving and his heart was thumping wildly in his adamantium-encased rib cage. A deep sniff of the room quickly revealed that Marie had never been here at all, let alone in the last few seconds, and Logan moved to open the door to the room. He drew several deep breaths of fresh air to calm himself down. His claws slid back into his flesh slowly as he relaxed.

His fingers itched to pick up the phone and dial Xavier's, but he suppressed the urge. How would they react to him calling this way? He could only imagine the glee Cyclops would feel knowing renowned loner-tough guy Wolverine had been brought to heel by a bad dream. Logan wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

He had been having one of his standard nightmares of faceless enemies and searing pain when Marie's voice had interrupted it without warning. The terror and desperation in her cry had nearly matched his memories from the Statue of Liberty, but it was her tone when she had said 'love you' that really threw him. There was no doubt in Logan's mind that the way she said it was like she was saying goodbye, permanently. His heart ached at the thought.

And 'love'? Even though he logically knew she would have outgrown her crush on him by now, he refused to acknowledge that the thought of her not really feeling that way about him hurt nearly as much as the thought of her in mortal peril.

Logan could only be eternally grateful that it had only been a dream.

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Mystique was in a panic. Although the blonde who had attacked her out of nowhere seemed to be weakening from Rogue's touch, Rogue also looked like she was fading fast. And the telepathic cry she had received from her only daughter had made a cold chill slide down her spine. Something was very wrong.

Mystique tried to pry the blonde's hands off of Rogue's, but neither one of them budged. She moved around to try pulling Rogue away from her attacker and noticed the absolute hatred burning in the blonde's dark blue eyes. Mystique didn't think Rogue had ever absorbed a mutant who hated her that much. What would it do to her, especially with how long the contact was lasting? Mystique realized she probably didn't want to know the answer.

Pulling on Rogue didn't work either, even when she shifted into stronger forms than her own. With no other option in sight, Mystique pulled her gun and aimed it at the blonde head. She knew Rogue might have a hard time living with the fact that Mystique had killed to save her, but to Mystique all that mattered was that she _did _live.

The force of the close range shot jerked the blonde's head away and finally succeeded in breaking the connection between the stranger and Rogue. Mystique fell to her knees beside her daughter and gently touched her covered arm.

"Marie?"

"No," a voice she didn't recognize answered.

Blue eyes caught yellow and Mystique found herself being flung across the room. She turned boneless right before she hit the wall, minimizing the damage. She reconstituted herself as Rogue's body stood slowly, the woman studying the hands that weren't her own.

"What have you done to me?" she snarled.

But Mystique had taken the opportunity of the new personality's distraction to shift into Logan and viciously kick her daughter's body into the wall. Her head hit with a resounding 'smack' and she slipped to the ground, out cold.

"Oh, God, Marie, I'm so sorry."

Mystique shifted into Sabretooth and lifted her daughter's limp body carefully, exiting the building as quickly as she could. She used the comm device in her ear to call the helicopter to her, not caring if the approach of the air vehicle set off alarms by approaching the building. It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was getting Rogue help as soon as possible.

The trip to the Brotherhood House was too long, and she was a bit gruff with Wanda, Pietro and Avalanche when they offered their help. Wanda was especially worried, having been contacted when Rogue was attacked. But they all conceded quickly when Mystique pointed out that Rogue would never forgive herself if one of them got hurt when she wasn't in control. Grabbing a few things from the interrogation room in the basement, Mystique transferred Rogue to one of the SUVs and drove to Salem Centre.

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"She'll need us when she's back to herself," Pietro said softly to his sister as they watched Mystique drive away.

"I just we could do something now," Wanda whispered. "Oh, we can, Piotr. We can call him back and tell him she's on the way there."

"Good idea; Mystique showing up out of the blue like that probably won't go over real well."

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Mystique pulled up to the massive gate of Xavier's school and jumped from the SUV. She shifted into the form she had used during the Statue of Liberty events. She didn't have time to waste explaining why she looked so different now.

The white haired weather witch was the one to answer on the monitor when Mystique rang the buzzer several times in rapid succession. Storm frowned deeply and opened her mouth, but Mystique spoke before she could be told off.

"Please, I need to be let in. Rogue's trapped in her own mind and I think only a telepath can help her. I'm afraid she's a danger to herself."

"Jean?" Storm queried, talking to someone to her left.

"We don't make deals to help the Brotherhood, Mystique, you should know that," Jean Grey said as she came onto the viewscreen.

"Where's Xavier?" Mystique snarled. "He would never turn away someone who needed his help."

"He's not here," the redhead answered. "If you want to leave Rogue here, we'll do what we can to help her, but you are not coming in here."

"I'm not abandoning my daughter again; I won't let anyone make me!" Mystique shouted.

Jean's image frowned, but she was suddenly moved out of the way. The visored face of Scott Summers filled the screen now, and when he spoke Mystique was almost sick with relief.

"I sent Piotr out with contact information of a telepath that can help you, her name is Emma Frost and she won't have a problem dealing with you if all you really want is to help Rogue."

Mystique opened her mouth and did something she never believed she would; she thanked an X-Man. "Thank you, Mr. Summers. I don't know how I'll repay you, but I will."

"Just make sure Rogue recovers and send Piotr back with a full report. He's going with you."

"Of course," Mystique responded.

She didn't really want the situation reported back to the X-Men unless that was what Rogue wanted, but right now she'd agree to anything to save her daughter's sanity and life. With a nod from Scott, the screen went blank and Mystique moved back to the SUV to keep one eye on Rogue as she waited for the Russian. Though it felt like much longer, it was only a couple minutes until Piotr came into sight.

"What happened?" Piotr asked, slightly out of breath as he approached the vehicle.

Mystique quickly snatched the information Scott had provided. This had to work. If Rogue… Mystique stifled a sob… she would never forgive herself. Was she destined to destroy the lives of all of her children?

"We were doing recon. There was another mutant there; she attacked me, and Rogue absorbed her to save me. But the other woman wouldn't let Rogue go, and I had to kill her to separate them. But now Rogue… I think the other woman's personality took control." Mystique handed Piotr a medical syringe filled with a light yellow liquid. "If she moves, use this to sedate her."

"Niet," Piotr objected, holding the syringe back toward Mystique. "I cannot…"

"Just do it," Mystique snapped. "She isn't Rogue right now."

Piotr nodded and slipped carefully into the backseat of the SUV, lifting Rogue's head and shoulders onto his lap, carefully watching for any signs that his best friend's body was coming to. A tear slipped down Mystique's face as she glanced into the rear view mirror at them. Not knowing what to say, Piotr glanced back down at Rogue and stroked her hair gently with one hand. Mystique sighed and started the vehicle, driving fast but carefully.

Ten minutes later, Piotr noticed Rogue's eyelashes begin to flutter. He hesitated to stick the needle in her arm, until he saw that her eyes had somehow turned blue. Piotr felt a chill run down his spine. Mystique was right; the woman lying draped across him wasn't Rogue right now. He quickly jabbed her arm, flinching at the sight of his own unprofessional shot-giving, and depressed the plunger. A frustrated sound escaped Rogue's lips before her body went limp again. Piotr looked up and met Mystique's grateful gaze in the mirror. He nodded his head tightly and set about trying to make Rogue as comfortable as possible.

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It took much longer to reach the address than Mystique would have liked. Luckily Piotr was with her and able to easily carry Rogue's unconscious form as they exited the vehicle after Mystique had parked right in front of the porch. Mystique was physically capable, she could always shift to another form if she had to, but emotionally she was a mess. They approached the door of the impressive house, not quite as big a mansion as the Brotherhood House or Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters but close to it, together.

The Russian carried Rogue in a protective but gentle manner, and Mystique knew Rogue meant as much to him as he did to Rogue. She had been worried before that Rogue was seeing more in the friendship than was truly there, especially when Piotr had moved out, but now she could tell that it wasn't the case at all.

A bleached-blonde woman with light blue eyes opened the door just before they got to it, beckoning them inside. She proved to be the woman they were looking for after she had led them to a round room with a cushioned floor and nothing on the walls.

"I'm Emma Frost," she said quickly. "Scott called and told me what he knew and as you drew close I pulled the events from your mind. I thought in these circumstances, you wouldn't mind the unauthorized intrusion."

Mystique nodded frantically, "As long as you can help my daughter, I could forgive anything."

"I'll do my best," Emma promised, "but a lot of it depends on Marie."


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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"What was that about?" Scott asked angrily. "Mystique may be our enemy, but Rogue has never done anything to harm anyone."

Jean flinched at both the tone of Scott's voice and the anger rolling off him. She knew part of that anger was actually directed at himself for letting Rogue get hurt, even if she hadn't been under their care for quite some time, but Jean's actions had made her a convenient target for Scott to take out his frustration on. At least he had waited until they were alone before berating her.

"I'm sorry, Scott," Jean said softly, trying to placate him. "I thought it was some kind of trick."

"How? Mystique couldn't be herself _and_ Rogue at the same time."

"But I couldn't sense Rogue."

Scott's frown deepened. "We know she has a powerful mind block. And even if she didn't, another personality being in charge would make it hard to contact her, now wouldn't it?"

"I suppose so, but I did offer to try to help if Mystique would leave her here."

"And you heard how she reacted to the suggestion. I don't know everything that's going on, but it's obvious Mystique loves Rogue. If someone wouldn't help me unless you left me, would you?"

"Scott, this fight is pointless, I don't even know if I would have been able to help Rogue. My telepathy isn't anywhere near the Professor's or Miss Frost's."

"You could have at least tried," Scott said quietly as he left the room.

Jean sighed as she thought about the implications of Rogue being in Mystique's care. Did this mean they would someday look across a battlefield and have to face the young woman they had saved alongside the people they had saved her from? As much as Jean hated to admit it, even to herself, she had been glad for the excuse of Mystique's presence. Jean was fine with Rogue showing up about once a week to go out with Piotr for a while, but she didn't want the younger woman staying at the School for any significant amount of time.

Intellectually, Jean knew most people didn't like someone else getting into their heads, but she couldn't help not trusting someone with such a powerful mind block. Jean was also slightly jealous of the younger woman, which made her feel guilty since Rogue would never be able to have a normal relationship. Never be able to make love without heavy precautions, never give birth to or hold her own child. But she was young and beautiful and Scott cared about her.

Rogue had only been with them for a couple weeks and it had been nearly a year ago, but still Scott cared very deeply for her. It had been an almost immediate thing. Jean had only known it to happen with her usually reserved fiancé once before: when he had met _her_. Right now his feelings for Rogue were the deep devotion of an older brother, but Jean was afraid it wouldn't take much to nudge that affection in the direction that would change it to the interest of a man for a woman.

It didn't help her inner turmoil to wonder if Logan would pay her any attention once he had seen the new and improved Rogue, if whatever was going on with Rogue's mind was fixed. The few times Rogue had been at the school, despite her slight uneasiness and the shortness of her stays, she had been more sure of herself, much less shy then she had been when she had first stayed with them.

Jean loved Scott, she truly did, but it was nice to have her desirability reinforced by such a primal man as Logan was, especially with all the younger men in the School looking at her only as a teacher or doctor. Somehow, the fact that Rogue probably wouldn't be at the school when Logan eventually came back didn't soothe Jean. She knew enough about Logan's personality to know that he would try to save Rogue from her own choices.

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When Mystique looked upset at Emma having used Rogue's real name so casually, Piotr quietly assured the shape shifter that he had already known it. At Emma's instruction, Piotr gently laid Rogue's unconscious form in the center of the floor. No longer having a task to keep him occupied, Piotr clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly, wishing he could do something, anything, to help the person who meant the most to him outside of his family.

The bleached blonde woman laid a calming hand on his arm, soothing, "You will be able to help her, I promise. Even if I can draw her personality to the forefront, she will need the support of the people who care about her."

"If?" Mystique shook as she echoed the most uncertain word in Emma's speech.

"I haven't assessed the situation to the fullest extent yet, but I have been unable on my first, shallow attempts to reach anyone other than Carol Danvers, the personality Marie absorbed."

Piotr swallowed a wave of nausea. What if Rogue _couldn't_ be reached? Had he lost his best friend? Would it have even come to this if he hadn't left the Brotherhood? He could have insisted on going with Rogue and Mystique on their mission. He could have gotten Mystique and her attacker apart without Rogue having to use her skin.

"Blaming yourself for something you had no control over will not help her now," Emma warned him.

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Mystique watched the sadness and guilt play over the young man's face for a moment before doing what she could to reassure him. Knowing how much Piotr meant to Rogue and vice versa, Mystique made a decision. Magneto was going to be furious that he had lost the Russian with superior strength and the ability to turn into living steel, but Mystique would find a way to convince him to get past it. After all, in some ways having an unwilling follower among the ranks was worse than a slightly smaller task force. If she had to, she would use what Magneto had done to her and to Rogue to force him to accept it. Or he would find himself without her aid as well.

"Colossus, none of this was your fault. Even if you had still been with the Brotherhood, I wouldn't have let you come; I wanted to spend time alone with Marie. And do you know how happy it made her to be able to help you, to be able to send you to Xavier's? She would never want you to blame yourself for this."

Piotr nodded slowly, still staring down at Rogue's unconscious form. "If she doesn't recover…"

"She will," Mystique said forcefully. She turned to Emma Frost, "What do you need us to do?"

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Emma had continued to gently probe Rogue's mind as the other two spoke, and she was fairly confidant that she could draw Rogue's own personality to the forefront with the assistance of Mystique and Piotr. Rogue's will was still strong.

But she _was_ mentally exhausted from the assault of the new personality, and her physical condition, weak and unconscious, wasn't helping matters. Carol's presence was strong, stronger than any of the humans and most of the other mutants, and unlike the versions of Logan, Erik Lensherr and Charles Xavier that were in Rogue's head, Carol was not at all accepting of her new reality. Probably because she had been the only one to not know beforehand what Rogue was capable of, Emma surmised. Rogue would need the strength of the people that cared about her to be able to come through this.

"Sit down somewhere near her. I'm going to bring the two of you with me in astral form into her mind so the three of us can help bolster her essence, so that Marie is once more in charge. From there I will try to help her sort through the personalities she's absorbed."

Piotr nodded and sank down to sit cross-legged near Rogue's head, reaching out to reassuringly brush her hair away from her face. Having delved into his mind already, knowing that any hidden animosity could make this even more dangerous for Rogue and needing to be completely sure of his intentions before she did anything, Emma was touched by the depth of his devotion to the young woman with two-toned hair.

Mystique pulled Emma away from him and whispered, "There's something I haven't told her that I don't want her to find out this way. Maybe you should just use him…"

Emma shook her head. "This won't be anything like touching her. She'll only feel your presence, not your memories or powers."

Mystique sighed with relief and the two women, both dressed in somewhat revealing outfits of all white, moved to join Piotr on the floor near Rogue. Emma closed her eyes and concentrated on focusing her own and two other minds on the liberation of a scared and bruised psyche.

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Piotr'd had no idea what to expect of being astrally projected into someone else's mind, but once it was happening it seemed like a fairly simple thing. He had closed his eyes only to feel a sensation in the vicinity of his heart similar to what his stomach felt when riding a swiftly rising elevator. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a vast empty space. Piotr looked down at his hands and noticed that he was somewhat transparent. A quick glance confirmed that Emma and Mystique were in a similar state, though Emma seemed a bit more substantial then he or Mystique. Which made sense since _she_ was the telepath.

Looking around, Piotr realized the space wasn't completely empty. There were wraith-like shadows in the distance and a blonde woman in a skimpy blue outfit floating a few feet above them. When she noticed his gaze on her, the woman's face contorted in a hollow echo of fear as she spoke.

"Who are you people? How did you get in here? Where are we? How do we get out?"

"Ignore her," Emma commanded firmly.

"Please help me," the Carol-figment wailed.

Piotr flinched at the desperation in the woman's voice, but she was not real. She didn't belong in Rogue's head. Rogue was the only thing that was important right now. He concentrated fully on his friend.

Good, Emma's voice murmured directly to his mind.

Evidently getting past this test was a catalyst of sorts, because Rogue was suddenly with them. She wasn't as vibrant a presence as Carol had at first been, but she was there now. Relief washed over Piotr and he moved forward to embrace her.

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Emma watched as Piotr hugged Rogue. Mystique hung back for only a moment before moving to embrace her daughter as well. The unconditional love and support flowing from the two other mutants to Rogue steadily increased her mental vitality. After quiet words shared with Piotr and Mystique individually, Rogue turned toward Emma, a questioning look in her dark green eyes.

"Emma Frost," the White Queen introduced herself. "Acquaintance and sometime ally of Charles Xavier, and a friend of Scott Summers. He asked for my assistance. Piotr, Mystique and I are here in your mind to help you regain control of yourself."

Rogue nodded her understanding, "Thank you for doing this."

"What can you tell me about Carol?"

"She was there for the same reason we were," Rogue said. "When Mama and I were able to get in using the key cards and then Mama used the passwords her contact provided her to get into the computer system, Carol got mad. She thought Mama was a mutant who was working against her own kind with the men who ran the place. She's an impulsive person and didn't think to simply ask Mama anything before attacking her."

"Would you have done things differently if you had known?" asked Emma.

Rogue frowned. "What's the point in what ifs? My mother was in danger and I could save her. That's all that mattered. I'm not sure she would have listened if I had tried talking to her, and she was much too strong for even both Mama and me to stop her. This whole thing was a horrible accident, but I can't spend the rest of my life feeling guilty about not having all the angles."

Emma smiled. "That's a very good attitude to take, and it'll help with what we're about to do."

Rogue's eyebrows rose in question, but Emma turned toward Piotr and Mystique.

"I'm going to release the two of you now. There's nothing more you can do in here, but it's important that Marie and I not be disturbed until we both wake up."

Moments later their images disappeared. Emma turned once more to Rogue.

"I'm going to help you set up mental exercises that will help you sort and control the powers you absorb, but before we do that you have to decide what to keep and what to let go of that you already have. It may be hard on you."

Rogue smiled slightly, "I have a feeling it'll be worth it."

Emma nodded and they discussed options on how Rogue would visualize the things she had to sort through. After discarding various ideas, they settled on color-coding. Red for powers, blue for personality, white for memories, and green for life force. Green would only be used when she was actually using her ability as far as Rogue knew, but it was important to have the labels in place before they began.

"Before we get to sorting the others, you're going to have to expunge Carol's personality, memories and life force, otherwise we'll just be back where we started from. In fact, if we leave her alone and weaken the others, she may be powerful enough to kick me out and never let you have control again."

"How do I do that?" Rogue asked.

Emma flinched slightly, "You have to fight her and win."

Rogue's mouth parted, and she turned to stare at the still-flying astral version of the woman she had to defeat.

"I don't know if I can," she whispered.

Emma looked away for a moment, disappointment clear on her face, before she turned her gaze back to Rogue. "What do you think Carol will do after she gains control? Do you think she'll be willing to share your head with the others?"

Rogue shook her head, but Emma continued, "Because she isn't you and hasn't lived with the sensation for as long as you have, she may not be able to distinguish the fact that the shadows of the people you've absorbed are not actually the real people themselves. In an effort to destroy their influence, she may try to kill or seriously injure them in the real world instead of just the astral plane. And if she followed any sort of logic, she'd go after the strongest ones first."

Rogue gasped. She wasn't concerned about Magneto, not only was he out of reach in jail, but she really wouldn't mind his demise all that much, but the other of the two strongest presences in her head… _he_ she couldn't let die.

"Logan," she murmured softly.

One of the shadows in the distance growled approvingly, _I'm here darlin'. You do what you need to do; I'll be here for ya, whatever you decide_.

_The Wolverine isn't the only one who has supported you when you were in need, my dear_, Erik added from somewhere near Logan's voice. _The abilities you have now are neither ours nor do they belong to whomever else you got them from. You have made them your own, earned them by what you have been put through and who you are. This new intruder does not understand that, nor does she care, but you _must_. You are the only one who can save yourself this time_.

Rogue considered her inner Erik's words, surprised once again at how strongly he could sometimes support her despite who he had come from. A sense of rightness took root and she pulled to her all the abilities she had maintained, not surprised to find that she could call on Carol's mutations as well. Rogue almost smiled at the thought that she would finally be able to fly on her own, but now wasn't the time to rejoice in her newly acquired skills. First she had to make sure _she_ and no one else got to keep them.

Pushing off from the floor in her mind, Rogue headed for the waiting figure of Carol Danvers.

"_You_ did this to me," the blonde accused.

Rogue shrugged delicately, "You did it to yourself when you acted without all the facts. Besides, you're not even really you, you're a psychic echo of Carol Danvers that's trapped in my head." Rogue paused for meaning, "And I want you out."

The Carol-fragment tried a different tact, pleading, "I don't deserve this."

"Maybe not," Rogue conceded. "But neither do I, and this is my life, not yours."

With a disgruntled look, Carol launched herself at Rogue. Rogue was ready for her.

A few minutes of tussling proved that neither woman was physically stronger than the other. So Rogue fell back on the training she had received from the Logan in her head and what she had learned as an unofficial part of the Brotherhood team. Punches and kicks were traded, their whole fight taking place midair, giving Carol a momentary edge since Rogue had never fought that way before. But because of the nature of her mutation and her various training, Rogue was able to adapt.

Rogue quickly discovered that Carol fought even dirtier than Logan. And she could understand why. This was not just a fight to have the upper hand in a cage match, or even a fight for control of her mind and body, but a fight for survival.

Rogue ruthlessly squashed a momentary feeling of guilt; it would only give Carol an edge she didn't deserve. Knowing the fight would continue indefinitely with the way things were going, Rogue let Carol get close enough that the blonde wrapped her fingers around Rogue's neck, squeezing with all her strength. With a slight smirk, Rogue took another path and reached for Carol's head, snapping her neck in a quick but brutal move.

Instead of falling away from her, Carol's body simply disappeared; green, white and blue mist evaporating where the intruder had once been. Rogue floated downward, landing gently on her feet beside the waiting image of Emma.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," the telepath remarked dryly.

Rogue laughed lightly before letting out a relieved sigh, "I almost feel like myself again."

"If you need to rest, we can take care of the others another time."

"No," Rogue shook her head. "I want to get this over with. And I have a feeling it would be best to have you here the first time to further guide my concentration."

Emma nodded approvingly.

"So, how do we do this?"

"My presence will help you focus, but most of it is up to you," Emma instructed. "You need to concentrate on seeing all the fragments of people you have in your head, taking the color coding into consideration, so we can go through them one by one and clean house, so to speak."

Rogue nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating on the people in her head, even the ones that were mere shadows from previous attempts at suppression and from the erosion of time. Suddenly the white landscape was filled with color and the forms of people she had touched, some more familiar than others. Behind these images, the mutants showing glimmers of red among their other colors whereas the humans didn't have any red at all, was a tall, wide column made of all four colors swirling and blending together.

'Me,' Rogue thought.

Emma made an amused noise and Rogue followed her gaze. The image of Jean was trapped in a box of some sort, the redhead's image only slightly there at all.

"Jean Grey," Emma remarked. "Any particular reason your psyche would keep her locked away when it didn't do that with anyone else?"

"Personal reasons," Rogue said softly, "I'm nothing like her and there's someone who might like me more if I were… but I wouldn't become her in any way, even if it meant having him…" Rogue trailed off, the mention of Jean's name reminding her that Emma had mentioned Scott. "No offense intended at all, but why are you helping me instead of Charles or Jean?"

Emma returned her gaze to Rogue, "Scott called and asked me to help you. He said something about Xavier being away and Jean not being comfortable with Mystique coming onto the grounds."

Rogue's eyebrows shot up; she'd have to ask Piotr or her mother for more details. Right now there wasn't anything to do about it.

"So," Emma said, "did you want to save any part of Dr. Grey?"

"No."

"Not even the telekinesis or telepathy?"

"I've got Xavier's telepathy, and I said before I don't want anything of Jean's."

"Telekinesis is a very useful power, but it is your choice; concentrate on obliterating the part of her that _is_ here."

Rogue did as Emma had said, focusing all of her attention on what was left of the redhead. After what seemed like long minutes, the image of Jean scattered into particles of color before disappearing completely.

"Good," Emma soothed, "now any particular order we should do this?"

Rogue glanced around, almost surprised to see her mother and Irene Adler waiting patiently, though she knew from her recovered memories that she had touched them both many times.

"We'll save Erik, Logan, Mama Irene and Mama for last. Other than that, I guess it would be best to get rid of the humans first, then Charles. We can just go in chronological order for the humans."

Emma nodded and with both of them concentrating, the images and shadows were rearranged and in a line so Rogue could go through them faster. After a momentary hesitation in getting rid of Cody, her first boyfriend and her first victim, Rogue went through the humans quickly, none of them having a strong enough psychic echo to put up much of a fight.

Even so, when they got to Xavier, Rogue was exhausted. But she didn't want to put this off, part of her afraid she wouldn't be able to do it at all without Emma's help.

"What do you want to keep of Xavier, Marie?"

"Just the telepathy," Rogue answered Emma's question. "I don't want the mind control, I don't ever want to be tempted into using it." Emma gave her another approving look at that comment. "I don't want his personality or memories either."

"Are you sure?"

Rogue nodded, "I feel bad even keeping the telepathy. They," she jerked her thumb in the other four mutants' direction, "all chose to touch me for one reason or other, but Xavier never did. Besides, he's only allowed me the memories he didn't mind me seeing."

Though she had expected Xavier to be much more difficult to get rid of than the humans or Jean because of how powerful he was Xavier was the easiest by far to banish, red lights floating where his image had been after only a few moments.

"Now concentrate on separating the telepathy from the mind control," Emma instructed.

Rogue stared hard at the floating lights until they moved apart somewhat into two groups of slightly different shades of red. The lighter red felt familiar to her, so Rogue rightly assumed the darker colors were the mind control aspect of Xavier's power. Focusing again, she destroyed the darker red lights, and watched in fascination as the lighter red danced toward the column that represented her own life force and abilities, merging with it.

Now it was just down to the four other mutants.

"Mama," Rogue called softly.

Mystique's image stepped forward, Rogue taking note that there was no red here. That explained why she had never been able to shapeshift.

"I have the real you in my life now so I don't need you in here," Rogue said softly before banishing the image of her adopted mother from her mind.

The fragment of Irene Adler walked forward next, and Rogue was surprised to see that she was made up of not just blue, white and green, but red as well.

"My sweet Marie," Irene said before Rogue had the chance to open her mouth. "I'm afraid you have to keep me here for a while longer, child. I can't tell you why yet, but you'll need my power in the future. Until then, I'll stay in the background as I always have."

"Alright," Rogue answered, watching thoughtfully as Irene faded into a shadow on the periphery.

Two to go. Rogue felt her emotions become a confusing swirl as she stared at Erik and Logan. Magneto had hurt her worse than anyone, had in fact killed her for his own nefarious purposes, and yet her inner Erik had helped her more than she had the words for. And on the other hand, Logan was the man she loved, the man who had saved her life more than once, and yet the echo of him in her head fought with her often because of the decisions she had made to be able to find herself and regain a sense of family.

Rogue sighed. Unless one or the other wanted to be released, she would keep them both in here until she could make a decision that felt right.

_We both want to stay_, Erik told her gently, Logan nodding an affirmation. _And Logan has agreed to hold back his disapproval of your choices unless he feels they are life threatening_.

Rogue felt her lips quirk into a grin. Logan would certainly recognize life-threatening situations when he saw them. 'Thanks.'

_One other thing, darlin'_, Logan said. _We want you to strip us of our powers and add them to your own so if you ever need to get rid of us in a hurry you won't lose the extra protection._

Startled, Rogue turned her gaze to Erik, 'Are you sure?'

_As I told you before, my dear, you have earned them_. _I'm very sure_.

'Thank you for that,' Rogue breathed out before concentrating with all her might on taking the red out of both men without destroying them.

She gasped in pain even as she finished her task, and Emma caught her before she could collapse.

"You shouldn't have tried so much at once," the bleach blonde scolded lightly.

"It had to be done," Rogue whispered.

She watched Erik and Logan's abilities become part of hers even as the two men walked off to the side. Staring at the column that represented all that she was and all she had gained, Rogue let out a soft sob. Her own power, her deadly skin, was the darkest red of any power she had yet seen, and it was firmly entwined with the green of her life force. Even with rest and the best concentration, she would not be able to destroy her own mutation.

"Marie," Emma cooed, "I have something to ask you, and then I think it's time to wake up."

Rogue nodded and turned her full attention to the woman who had helped save her from the oblivion of her own mind.

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For a moment Logan thought he caught a whiff of that big brute he'd fought on top of the Statue of Liberty, but he dismissed it as an olfactory hallucination brought on by his preoccupation with Marie. Even if Sabretooth had somehow survived the fall, what would he be doing on a deserted back road in the Canadian wilderness? Logan shook his head and slowed Scott's motorcycle a bit, not wanting to crash because he wasn't concentrating on the road.

Ever since he had been woken last night by what he had thought was Marie screaming, Logan had been on edge. Three times he had reached for the phone as he was pacing in his motel room waiting for sunrise so he could check out. Only once had he actually lifted the receiver from its cradle, and he had set it down again almost immediately. Logan knew he was being ridiculous. If something had happened to Marie, Xavier would have contacted him. And as much as Logan hated the intrusion for any other reason, if something had happened to the girl he had promised to protect, he would welcome the fact that Xavier didn't need a phone to get a hold of him.

Once more, Logan turned over the odd dream in his mind. Marie asking him for help wasn't much of a surprise, turning to him for aid had become second nature to her in the short time they had known each other, and he had quickly come to look forward to being able to fulfill the role of hero-riding-to-the-rescue. Not that he ever wanted her in danger, not at all, it was just nice being the one who could save her when she needed it.

It was the idea of Marie loving him and not saying anything until it was too late that had him feeling torn up.

The instinctual knowledge that she was his… his to protect and keep happy… would not translate well for people who didn't feel things the way he did. Was it love? He wasn't sure. Since he had first come to know himself, he had been able to feel and recognize a wide range of emotions. Hate, fear, pity, disgust, lust, hurt, and… much more rarely… happiness. But during the fifteen years before he had met her, Logan hadn't felt whatever it was Marie made him feel. The intensity of his possessiveness and the crush Jean had made clear Marie felt had forced him to very easily accept what little help Xavier had given him in regards to a lead to his past as an excuse to leave.

Yes, he wanted to find out who he truly was and what had happened to him, but Logan was comfortable in his own skin when the fact that he was different wasn't constantly being thrown in his face. It was the idea of Marie seeing him as a hero that made him run. That and her age. He could wait for her to grow up to see if what had been between them for those few precious minutes in his truck before things had gotten complicated and dangerous could grow into something more.

As much as he did like helping Marie and keeping her safe, Logan wanted her to see him as a man first and foremost, not as a larger than life heroic figure. And staying away from Xavier's for two years would give Marie time to at least reach the age of consent and to grow out of the girlish infatuation, and then they could decide together where they went from there. It bothered him that he wasn't sure of her exact age or her birthday, but two years was the very longest he was willing to wait.

It startled him to realize that one of those years would be up before too long. It wouldn't be all that long before it was time he headed back east and checked out Alkali Lake.

Logan pulled himself out of his musings when he again scented Sabretooth. Once might have been a coincidence, but twice was pushing it.

Logan slowed the bike and pulled to the dirt at the side of the road. He made a show of checking the bike's front tire as he waited for the inevitable. He was rewarded two minutes later when a roar from the tree line prefaced the attack of the huge blonde feral. Using the squat he had put himself into to his advantage, Logan launched himself at Sabretooth, knocking them both away from the bike. No sense in getting his only method of transportation destroyed.

They rolled several feet through the snow, trading blows that would have killed an ordinary human. When they came to a stop, one of Logan's arms had become pinned beneath him, and Sabretooth was holding the other one tightly in his own fist. With his free hand, Sabretooth yanked at the collar of Logan's shirt, reminding Logan of the fact that Sabretooth had evidently thought of his dog tag as some kind of trophy. Logan smirked as Sabretooth grunted his displeasure at not finding it there.

"Where is it, runt?" the blonde man roared, pushing Logan deeper into the snow before yanking him back up so he could snarl in his face.

That move, though it put him disgustingly close to the other man's rank breath, was just the opportunity Logan needed to free his arm. With a snarl of his own, Logan swung his fist, claws extended, into Sabretooth's stomach. Logan immediately pulled his claws out of the man and rolled away and onto his feet, knowing from their past encounter that it would take more then the three stab wounds he had just inflicted to stop the black-eyed man.

"Not here, you ugly fuck," Logan ground out through clenched teeth.

Sabretooth roared and charged again. The men took swipes at each other, Logan with his claws and Sabretooth with his thick, discolored fingernails that felt like talons when they ripped into flesh. Logan was slightly faster and he had the added advantage of the length of his adamantium blades, but Sabretooth was bigger and had longer arms. And though his wounds didn't close quite as quickly as Logan's, it was soon obvious that the feral had superior healing as part of _his_ mutation as well.

The sound of an eighteen-wheeler caught Logan's attention and he remembered Scott's bike, still sitting partly in the road. He glanced over his shoulder, surprised at how far away his tussle with Sabretooth had taken him. With a powerful swipe aimed at Sabretooth's eyes that resulted in a pained roar that made him grin, Logan turned and ran for the motorcycle, bounding through the snow as if he had been born to it.

He reached the bike with just enough time to get on and start it, pulling away with the throttle open wide mere yards from the grill of the advancing truck. Glancing in the mirror on the right handlebar, Logan saw Sabretooth trying and failing to run after him. Logan grinned again. Though he wanted to rip the blonde man to shreds, it was more fun to leave him fuming in the snow this time. Logan knew they'd run into each other again. They could finish it then.

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Mystique drew her daughter into her arms the moment her eyes opened, once again their natural dark green. Rogue hugged her back, a small sob escaping the younger woman as she clung tightly for long moments. Mystique rocked her slightly and cooed soothingly.

"I thought I'd lost you, baby girl."

Closing her eyes at the new endearment, Rogue murmured, "I'm still here, Mama."

It was several more minutes before Mystique let her go and Rogue was able to fully sit up. Rogue turned toward Piotr, instantly wrapped tightly in his muscled arms. Mystique was worried he'd inadvertently hurt her for a moment, but then she noticed that Rogue wasn't acting crushed.

Super strength, Mama, Rogue reminded her telepathically.

Mystique relaxed, happy that Rogue had maintained much of her borrowed powers on top of having overcome the other woman in her head. With the added strength of Carol Danvers, it was unlikely Rogue would be put into a situation where she could be overwhelmed.

"Can we go home now?" Rogue said softly when Piotr had released her. "I'm exhausted."

"You probably will be for a few days," Emma cautioned. "And you may have a few headaches in the weeks to come as your body adjusts to the changes in your mind."

Mystique watched as her daughter nodded and tried to stand. She failed, but before she could fall all the way back down to the floor, Piotr scooped her up, cradling her tenderly against his wide chest. The group became a procession out of the room and back toward the front of the house, Emma leading the way since Mystique and Piotr had been rather emotional on the way in. Mystique wasn't sure she would have been able to find her way back, despite the simplicity of the directions, so great had her focus on her daughter been.

"Thank you," Rogue said to Emma as Mystique went out the front door in front of she and Piotr.

"You'll consider my offer?" Emma asked.

Rogue smiled and nodded before Piotr turned and walked out the front door, still cradling her gently in his arms.

"What offer?" Mystique asked as soon as all three of them were settled in the SUV.

Rogue, leaning against Piotr for support in the backseat, sighed. "Emma wants me to consider further training with her. She thinks with time and effort I could be even more powerful when using other people's abilities, and perhaps even control my skin eventually. But in return I'd have to agree to work for her on occasion."

Mystique nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. "If it's what you want, I'll support you, but I want it to be your decision."

"Thanks, Mama," Rogue murmured. "For now I just want to go home. Maybe in a few months I'll think about it some more."

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The ride was silent for several minutes as they drew closer to where they'd have to choose whether to go toward Xavier's or the Brotherhood House. Piotr glanced at Rogue, whose head was resting on his shoulder. Her eyes were closed, but he couldn't tell if she was sleeping.

"Piotr," Mystique suddenly said.

His gaze flew to the reflection of her human guise in the rearview mirror. She had always called him by his code name before, and Piotr realized with a start that the events of the past few hours had made him an actual person in her eyes instead of just another of Magneto's weapons. And it was because of Mystique's adopted daughter and his friendship with her. It gave him hope that not everything would fall apart were the Master of Magnetism ever to escape from jail.

"Yes?"

"Did you want me to take you back to Xavier's or would you like to come home with us for a little while?"

Piotr glanced down at Rogue, feeling her tense at Mystique's question. So she _was_ awake. "I will come to the House until Rogue is settled, if you can drive me home after."

Mystique nodded and the rest of the drive was comfortably silent.

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Wanda nearly tackled Rogue and Piotr when they walked into the Brotherhood House, Rogue leaning heavily against the Russian. Rogue let go of Piotr to wrap her arms around her other friend, Wanda having already latched onto her in a firm hug.

"Are you okay? We were so worried when we didn't hear anything for so long."

What felt like maybe an hour in her head had been several in the real world, and Rogue had been surprised to note when she regained consciousness at Emma's that it was mid-morning. She could only imagine how nerve-wracking it must have been for everyone that cared about her not to know what was going on and whether she would actually make it through.

"I'm me again," Rogue said gently. "But it'll be awhile until I'm completely okay."

"What does that mean?" Pietro asked, coming closer to put a cautious but caring hand on her covered shoulder.

Rogue smiled at him, "It means no more DR sessions for me for awhile, and I'll probably be spending a lot of time sleeping or resting. Something we all know would be worse than death for you, Speedy."

Pietro mock-scowled and the others laughed, the tension in the room easing when they realized that if Rogue could joke about it, she really would be okay.

"We're glad you're back, Rogue," Avalanche added.

When Rogue smiled at him, Avalanche nodded and headed off for the section of the mansion his rooms were in. Mystique signaled for the others to move further into the House, Piotr supporting Rogue when she staggered slightly. When she leaned heavily against him, the tall young man with black hair and piercing blue eyes swept her up into his arms once more, lightly kissing her cheek when her head lolled against his shoulder.

"Spashiba bolshoy," she thanked him.

Piotr smiled at hearing her once again speak his language. "Pajalsta. I would do anything for you; ya lu blue ti biah, pomish?"

"I remember," Rogue whispered. "And I love you, too."

"That's why you reached out to us, isn't it? Because we're the ones you feel closest to, the ones you trust."

Rogue blinked, a startled look on her face, "That… that was real? You, Mama, Wanda, Scott… and Logan? You… you all heard me?"

Piotr's arms tightened around her back and under her knees, and he frowned. "I don't know about Logan… but the rest of us heard your call."

"W… will you let me know if he calls the School or comes back?"

"Of course," Piotr nodded.

Mama? Rogue communicated silently, letting Piotr _listen_ in. Can you assure Wanda and Pietro that I'm okay and tell them what happened? I really need to sleep.

Of course, my daughter. I'll be up to check on you later.

Piotr automatically changed direction and headed for Rogue's room, setting her gently down on the edge of her bed when they got there.

"Can you get me a nightgown from that drawer?" Rogue asked softly, pointing her directions.

Piotr pulled out a soft, cotton gown, thinking it would be the most comfortable. He turned his back as Rogue changed. Rogue made a soft sound when she was through and he turned back toward her.

"Do you need anything?"

Rogue looked at him from her spot on top of the covers, curled into a ball that made her seem smaller and younger than she actually was.

"Will you stay until I fall asleep?" she whispered.

Piotr smiled gently, and instead of answering, climbed onto the bed and lay down beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, laying one of his hands over her bare one. Rogue gave his hand a thank-you squeeze before a heartfelt sigh escaped her and she settled back against his larger frame.

Hesitantly, Piotr whispered, "Mr. Summers and the others are going to ask about what happened… and why you're staying here."

Tell them everything, Rogue thought to him. The consequences are mine to deal with.

If you're sure, he sent back to her.

Rogue nodded slowly, burrowing her head further into her pillow.

"Now sleep," Piotr commanded aloud.

He curled himself more closely around her, staying quiet until her body relaxed and her breathing became even. Piotr pressed a soft kiss to her head before carefully climbing off the bed.

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Piotr trudged through the front door of the School half an hour later, wearily shutting the door behind him. Mystique had apologized for dropping him at the front gate and forcing him to walk all the way up the front drive, but they both knew it was best not to even try to get the X-Men to let her drive up to the building. Scott was waiting for Piotr in the hallway. Piotr briefly wondered who had taken Scott's class at the same time he pondered his apparent position as ambassador between the X-Men and the Brotherhood. He sighed in resignation at the thought.

Scott validated Rogue's trust in him by first asking, "Is she okay?"

Piotr nodded. "Miss Frost was able to help Rogue."

"Good," Scott sighed with obvious relief. "Storm and Jean are waiting in the Professor's office if you want to answer their questions now. Unless you want to wait until you've had some rest?"

"No, I just want to get it over with."

Scott nodded his understanding and walked ahead of Piotr through the halls. Minutes later, with the three of them facing him like a tribunal, Piotr wondered if he should have waited.

"Scott told us what you told him about where Rogue is staying now, where you came from and why you were temporarily with the Brotherhood," Storm started. "What we do not understand is why Rogue is with them after what they did to her."

"Mystique is the only one there who had anything to do with what happened at the Statue of Liberty," Piotr began, scrubbing a hand over his face when he realized that the main reason Rogue stayed there at all _was_ Mystique so that particular argument didn't hold water. "Look, for any of this to make sense, you need to know the truth about Rogue's past."

Jean spoke up then, "So tell us."

The three older mutants sat and listened in apparently rapt fascination as Piotr explained everything he knew. How Mystique and Irene had adopted Rogue when she was twelve, the first time her powers had manifested. How the two women had loved Rogue very deeply but they'd had to leave her behind without memory of them and with her mutation suppressed when Irene was dying and wanted to go home to Austria to be buried. About how Magneto had already had his plan in place when Mystique had come back and how the Master of Magnetism had erased Mystique's memories of her adopted daughter so she'd go along with his plan. How even before Rogue and Mystique had tracked down Mesmero and gotten their memories back, Mystique and Rogue had remembered enough that they had wanted to start over. Then he told them what he knew about the confrontation between Carol Danvers and the other two women.

"Goddess," Storm breathed softly when he was done. "And you're sure Rogue's okay now that her ordeal is over?"

Piotr hesitated before answering, "Not completely. But she is back in control, and has supposedly gotten rid of the personalities she no longer wanted in her head. But the process took a lot out of her, and she told us she'll need a lot of rest in the next couple weeks."

"The personalities she no longer wanted?" Jean echoed. "Wouldn't that be all of them?"

Scott and Piotr shared a look, and Scott was the one who answered, "Not necessarily."

Storm's eyebrows shot up before understanding seemed to light her eyes momentarily.

"Logan," she whispered.

Jean looked startled at that one word, and Piotr found himself wondering why. It was common knowledge in the mansion that Rogue had touched the Wolverine more than once, and even after all the time they had both been gone from the mansion, there were still rumors that circulated about the pair and what exactly they had meant to each other. _He_ of course knew how Rogue felt about Logan, but no one had been able to tell him definitively whether the man loved his friend back. And Piotr knew from Rogue what Jean had told Logan when the man had woken from his second encounter with Rogue's skin. Surely Jean could understand Rogue wanting to hold onto the small part that she could of the man she loved? Even if the redhead was dense enough to think it was just a crush.

"What I don't understand," Scott broke the awkward silence to ask, "is why even Mystique being Rogue's mother would lead Rogue to join the Brotherhood?"

"She hasn't," Piotr corrected. "If Magneto is ever freed, Rogue will leave at once, and I feel sorry for Sabretooth should he ever show up at the House. In a way, Rogue is able to forget that the House is the base for the Brotherhood at all. Pietro and Wanda are not members, and the atmosphere in the House is one of a group of twenty-something's living together, not a mutant rights group. Rogue trains with them, but it is much the same as when she was here. She was not an X-Man and yet she trained in the Danger Room."

Scott and Storm nodded their understanding.

Surprisingly, it was Jean who asked in a concerned tone, "Are you sure she's safe with them?"

"Yes. They're her friends now, and if they do ever turn on her, she's more than strong enough to handle it. And Mystique would kill any one of them if they hurt her."

"Who would have thought that Mystique was capable of loving someone that way?" Storm mused.

"Family means everything to some people," Piotr said quietly. Silently, he added, 'Especially when they've lost them before.'

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**Author's Note: **For any of you not clear on the Russian phrases:

_Spashiba bolshoy_ is _thank you very much_.

_Pajalsta_ is _you're welcome_.

_Ya lu blue ti biah, pomish_ is _I love you, remember_?


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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"… and in local news," the reporter on television continued her delivery, "an unidentified woman was dumped at the emergency room entrance of St. Matthew's Hospital early yesterday morning. The Jane Doe was not expected to survive the gunshot wound she suffered to the head, but doctors were able to stabilize the woman after several hours of surgery. She is now in a coma, and authorities are hoping someone will be able to identify her." A picture of a sleeping woman with bandages wrapping her head was shown in the corner of the screen. "If you have any information…"

"Mystique?" Pietro asked. "Are you okay?"

The shapeshifter had become a lighter shade of blue, staring unblinkingly at the television screen. At Pietro's question, she sucked in a breath and turned a horrified look in his direction.

"That Jane Doe is Carol Danvers, the woman who attacked Rogue and I," she told him. "I shot her to get her off Rogue… I didn't think she was still alive."

Pietro grimaced. "Rogue thinks she's dead, too, doesn't she?"

Mystique nodded. "Don't mention it to her. She hasn't been watching TV since… what happened. Hopefully it'll stop running by the time she watches the news again."

"But shouldn't Rogue know in case Danvers wakes up?" Pietro pointed out. "She might come after Rogue since Rogue has her powers and was the one who stopped her."

"I don't want her to have to worry about it all the time, she has more than enough things she stresses herself out over already," Mystique said. "I'll have someone keep an eye on the 'Jane Doe' situation. If something changes, I'll reconsider telling Rogue about it."

Pietro reluctantly agreed not to tell Rogue and turned to leave the room.

"Pietro," Mystique called him back momentarily. "Do you know if we have a recipe for chocolate chip pancakes?"

"_You're_ going to cook?"

Pietro had never seen the shapeshifter even attempt to make a sandwich. He and the others had all assumed she _couldn't_ cook and therefore didn't bother trying. Some people just didn't have that gift. He, for one, stuck to things that went into a bowl cold or could be cooked in the microwave with minimal preparatory steps.

Mystique gave him a dirty look, and Pietro almost laughed when she responded to his question with one of her own.

"How hard can it be to follow a recipe?"

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Logan fought a shiver as he exhaled a puff of cigar smoke. The diner behind him had a couple of small rooms on the second story that were rented out only when the weather stranded travelers and truckers. It had been the first place he had come to after ditching Sabretooth on the highway. He had been able to talk the older woman who owned the place into letting him stay despite the fact that the weather wasn't bad enough to strand him there. He hadn't, however, been able to convince her to let him smoke inside. So Logan stood out in the cold, thankful that his healing factor prevented hypothermia, even if it didn't make him any warmer.

He had chosen to wait for Sabretooth to catch up with him so they could continue their fight, but the blonde feral hadn't shown up. After three days, Logan was forced to admit he probably wasn't going to. Maybe Sabretooth was even more reclusive than him. It would make sense, considering the fact that the man's height, when added to his long, curved talon-like nails and pitch black eyes, made him an obvious mutant.

Yesterday Logan had finally broken down enough from his uneasy feeling about Rogue's state of being and called the mansion. He had used the main number and called after classroom hours in the hopes that none of the staff would answer. Luckily for him, a student had picked up, one whose voice he didn't recognize. When he had asked the girl if Rogue was there, she gave him a slightly confusing answer, but it was enough to ease his mind of the thought that there was something terribly wrong.

The girl had told Logan that, no, Rogue was not there, but that someone named Peter had gone to meet Rogue, she believed at a museum, as that was where the pair usually went. Logan wasn't sure why Rogue would go somewhere and then make someone else catch up with her, but maybe the kid had gotten it backwards and this Peter person was waiting for Rogue. He felt a twinge of jealousy that she had a male friend aside from him, but he _had_ left her at Xavier's so she could grow up, and friends were a part of that. Logan hadn't left his name or called back, the fact that Rogue was obviously okay was enough. At least that's what he kept telling himself had to be enough until he was ready to go back.

Thinking of the future led to reviewing his plans for the not-so-distant variety. In a few months, the fight circuit 'season' would draw to a close during the worst of winter. When that happened, Logan would be heading to his cabin to hole up for the duration. So in the next few weeks he needed to purchase a reliable four wheel drive truck. He loved the sensation of freedom riding Scott's bike gave him, but it wouldn't be able to get him out of the backcountry his cabin was tucked away in if he had to make an emergency run for supplies.

Logan stubbed out his cigar with a sigh and turned back toward the diner. It was time to give up on waiting for the hairy one and hit the road. He'd grab his bag, pay the owner, and head for the next fight bar.

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Four days after the mission with her mother that had gone so terribly wrong, Rogue woke up to realize that it was her twentieth birthday. A chorus of 'Happy Birthday to You' rang in her head from the three people still in residence, and Rogue laughed out loud at their inability to sing in tune with each other even though Logan had a surprisingly good voice and Irene and Erik were both decent singers. An unbidden tear came to Rogue's eye when she remembered Irene singing her back to sleep and stroking her hair when she'd had nightmares related to her skin back home in Mississippi.

_Happy birthday, my sweet Marie_, Irene told her, Erik and Logan adding their wishes with a 'my dear' from Erik and a lovingly growled 'darlin' from Logan.

Determined to have a stress and sadness-free day, Rogue blinked rapidly and wiped the excess moisture from her eyes. She moved to the full-length mirror on the wall and stood staring at her reflection. When she was around nine, Rogue had started her own tradition of standing in front of a mirror and noting how she had changed in the past year. And the three hundred and sixty five day cycle that had just ended had been eventful, to say the least.

On her nineteenth birthday, she had been unable to enact her little tradition. Rogue wasn't exactly sure because she hadn't had a calendar at the time, but she believed she had been in a run-down shelter somewhere in Indiana on her birthday, huddled in the furthest corner away from the other people taking refuge there. She had still been making her way north then and had not yet heard of the X-Men or the Brotherhood.

Rogue smiled tentatively at her reflection. She was no longer a teenager, and she looked it. Having actually been getting food and exercise (and showers) on a regular basis for the last several months, she was finally looking healthy again. Her hair, though it now had the two white streaks on either side of her face, was once again full and healthy-looking. It had a soft wave to it and tended to curl easily when a curling iron or curlers were applied. Because the woman had abandoned her shortly after birth… according to her father at least… Rogue couldn't remember her mother. But her father's hair was stick straight and dirty blonde, so she thought she must take after her mother in that regard.

Of course, Rogue was also in the best physical shape of her life, nothing could beat regular training for that. Her curves had filled back out from what she had lost in the near-starvation she had sometimes experienced on the road. She was no longer skinny enough to compete with runway models, but Rogue couldn't have been happier about that. She no longer hunched into herself either, not so afraid of drawing attention as she had been. Rogue knew a lot of that was the fact that none of the Brotherhood had ever flinched away from her as the residents of Xavier's school had. Wanda, Pietro and the others were cautious, but they didn't treat her like she had the plague. In a way, she knew she couldn't blame those at the school; they were younger and understandably more self-involved. But their fear hadn't helped her deal with her power in any way.

The biggest changes, of course, were the ones that couldn't be seen, her white locks and the dog tag hanging around her neck the only outward signs of all she'd been through. Rogue met her own gaze in the glass and changed her thinking slightly. Her eyes, too, were different because of everything she had experienced. In normal circumstances, her eyes still held the innocence they always had, but when she thought about her power or about any of the things that had happened to her lately, her eyes darkened, became older and wiser.

Making a face at herself, Rogue turned away with a muffled laugh and got ready for the day. The past few days she had kept mainly to her room, resting as Emma had suggested and thinking about what had happened, not only four days ago, but over the past several months. She was determined not to do that today.

After a long, hot shower, Rogue dressed in a pair of dark jeans, a white short-sleeve shirt and comfortable sneakers, long, sheer opera gloves the color of coffee going on last. She pulled most of her hair up in a ponytail, leaving her white streaks down and tucking them behind her ears. She found that when she pulled them back with the rest of her ponytail, it made her look slightly like a skunk. Quickly making the bed, Rogue left her bedroom.

The doors to Mystique's room and her office were open, but Mystique wasn't in either room, a bit surprising considering how close Mystique had stayed to Rogue the past few days. Rogue headed for the kitchen, hunger finally making itself known in the quiet rumble of her stomach. Unfortunately, when she reached the first floor, the faint scent of burning food reached her sensitive nose. Rogue hurried her pace, wondering if someone had left something on the stove and forgotten about it. She had to cover her mouth and pinch her nose shut to block out the worst of the fumes when she walked into the kitchen.

Mystique was giving the stove a glare that to a living opponent would mean certain death. The effect was ruined when a coughing fit seized her. Rogue bit back a laugh and, using her control over the metal that framed the plates of glass, opened all the windows in the room. Picking up a dishrag, she lifted the skillet off the lit burner before using the towel as a fan, sending the smoke toward the nearest open window.

"What happened, Mama?" she asked when Mystique had gotten her lungs back under control.

"I was _trying_ to make pancakes."

Rogue chuckled softly and glanced around the preparation area of the kitchen. Rejected piles of either under- or over-cooked pancakes were on several surfaces, the ingredients still sitting on one counter. Noticing a bag of chocolate chips a moment before her noise picked out the scent of burned chocolate among the other batter ingredients, Rogue softened. Irene had always made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast on her birthday.

"You remembered," she said quietly.

"Happy Birthday, baby girl," Mystique murmured as she pulled Rogue into a hug. "Of course I remembered; I'm your mother."

In the spirit of the day and Mystique's efforts to make it special, Rogue didn't point out all the things Mystique'd had a hand in that the average adoptive mother wouldn't have.

"It's your birthday?" Wanda asked from the doorway, standing in pajama bottoms and a tank top. "Why didn't you say something?"

Rogue shrugged and smiled when Wanda gave her a quick hug. "The last couple years I haven't really done anything to mark the day, and the birthdays I spent with the D'Ancantos were low key since I wasn't their kid."

Wanda made a face. "Django, Pietro's and my adoptive father, thought we were his while we were growing up, but even when he found out we weren't we still all celebrated."

"It's not a big deal, Wanda," Rogue replied, noticing that Mystique was getting upset at the current topic of conversation. "Besides, I'm here now, and Mama's already making, well, _trying to make_ my favorite breakfast."

Mystique once more glared at the stove. Wanda moved further into the kitchen to poke at the discarded, inedible pancakes.

"You probably had the heat too high, Mystique," the redhead commented. "It would make it so you had to either flip them so fast the middle wouldn't get cooked or risk them blackening."

"She has a lot of batter left," Rogue said, lifting the bowl for Wanda to see. "How about you cook them up while Mama and I clean up this mess?"

"Sounds like a plan," Wanda answered, carrying the pan to the garbage to scrape off the last burnt offering before quickly washing the skillet in the sink. "The guys should be down in a few and we can all eat together."

"Thank you, Wanda," Mystique said as she and Rogue began cleaning up her attempts at cooking.

As predicted, Avalanche, Remy and Pietro showed up shortly, all within minutes of each other, each wishing Rogue a happy birthday when they found out. They all sat down to eat, Rogue having shaped pancakes; a two and a zero Wanda had made after she had asked how old Rogue now was, and a couple round ones that had two additional circles each that formed ears. When Rogue had asked her if she had a thing for Mickey Mouse, Wanda shrugged and said they were just a fun shape to make.

"Mickey Mouse doesn't really fit you, chere," Remy said as he tried to spear one of the pancakes off her plate, having cleared his own.

With a playful glare, Rogue yanked his fork away from him and made it float just out of his reach without ever touching it.

"The Cajun's right," Avalanche remarked. "You're more like Mighty Mouse. Especially now with the flying and super strength."

Pietro laughed with his glass tipped up to his mouth, nearly snorting milk out through his nose. This set the others off, and Rogue shared a smile with Mystique over the way the twenty-something housemates could sometimes act so much like children. When everyone had finished breakfast and cleaned up, refusing to let Rogue do any of it, Mystique asked what she wanted to do the rest of the day.

"I feel pretty good so far," she answered, "but I don't want to push it by doing too much. I thought I'd rest for a few hours and then later we can do something here if everyone's game. Maybe play pool and watch a movie, order in Chinese for dinner."

The others were nodding, and Remy said, "Sounds good, chere."

"And your siesta will give us time to go pick you up a little something," Wanda added.

Pietro groaned, knowing as Rogue did from the gleam in his sister's eye that Wanda intended on dragging the males of the household to the mall. Rogue had a fleeting thought that Jubilee and Wanda would get along great if it weren't for the little matter of who Wanda's father was.

"You don't have to…" Rogue began.

Wanda drowned Rogue out by putting her hands over her ears and humming loudly. Rogue rolled her eyes and gave Wanda a friendly shove out the kitchen door. The young men reluctantly followed Wanda, but Mystique called Rogue back from seeing them off.

"There are some things I need to give you," Mystique said, leading the way to her office.

Mystique opened a wall safe near her desk and pulled out a manila envelope. Closing the safe, she turned toward Rogue, motioning for the younger woman to go ahead and sit in the desk's chair while she perched on the edge of the desk. She pulled out a few cards and several papers, which Rogue discovered were a driver's license, credit cards, a passport and all the identification papers a person could need, all in the name Marie Darkholme. She ran her thumb over the picture on the driver's license, the same one that had been taken when she had passed the driver test at sixteen, before her hair had its white streak and right before Mystique and Irene had left her behind.

"You can get the picture replaced when you renew your license next year when you turn twenty-one," Mystique remarked. "But Irene must have known you'd come to prefer that people not know your real name, because a few weeks ago I received a post-dated letter from her with instructions to have these drawn up as well. I don't know why she made you older than you are, but evidently it's necessary. I became you as you are now to have the picture taken for this set so they'd be different; I didn't think you'd mind."

Rogue took the second set of identifying papers and cards, including more credit cards and a second driver's license and passport, this one proclaiming her to be a twenty-two year old named Ann Adler. Among the papers was also a sealed envelope with 'Marie' written in Irene's recognizably odd handwriting. Her foster mother had been blind the whole time Rogue had known her, but Irene had always done her own writing, mainly, Rogue supposed, because most of the things she wrote down were for later and not everyone read Braille. Rogue ran her gloved fingers over the single word, fighting tears.

"There's more," Mystique said softly. "Irene left you the house in Meridian and a trust."

"A trust?" Rogue echoed, ecstatic about the house, but overwhelmed by the idea of her own money.

She knew, of course, that Irene had been very comfortably well off, but she thought if anyone got the money it would be Mystique. But Rogue supposed Mystique had money of her own as well; Mystique was almost as long-lived as Logan with the added bonus of never having lost her memory, with the brief exception of when Mesmero had suppressed her memories of Rogue. Mystique had learned through experience to rely only upon herself for as much as possible in that time. And perhaps Irene had seen that Rogue would need it for some reason. Mystique pulled out the last contents of the envelope, two official looking documents.

"This is a copy of Irene's will and the information about the trust. You can read it for yourself, but basically she left the money to both names, listing Ann Adler and Marie Darkholme as cousins who will share the trust and have equal access. There's a little over ten million in the trust, but half of it is tied up in stocks and bonds."

"Ten… _million_?" Rogue choked.

Mystique smiled a bit sadly. "I guess she thought providing for you was a good enough reason to use her power, because most of the money came from very good investments and instructions were left for those in charge of the trust on what to do through the next three years."

"Mama…" Rogue started, needing to pull Mystique out of the doldrums.

But Mystique smiled and shook her head. "You deserve it, and I got everything I ever wanted from Irene while she was alive."

Rogue smiled back and decided to wait until another time to read the letter from Irene. It seemed no matter what her intentions the day would be filled with little moments of sadness, but at least she could put off shedding more tears over her deceased foster mother until another day.

"You can keep everything in the locking drawer in the desk in your room until we can get you a safe," Mystique remarked.

Nodding, Rogue followed Mystique out of the room and down the hall to her bedroom. Rogue tucked the papers and things into her drawer before locking it, keeping the 'Ann Adler' driver's license and credit cards out to slip into the thin wallet she used to carry money around in. She had never been a big fan of purses, and the added addition of the strong presence of two men in her head made her feel they were a potentially inconvenient frivolity. It wasn't like Rogue was becoming butch or anything, she just recognized the problem of the awkwardness of a purse if one had to fight or run unexpectedly.

Knowing from the past few days that Mystique was most at ease when she knew exactly where Rogue was, Rogue said, "I'm going down to the library to get a book, and then I'll relax in my room for a couple hours."

"There's just one more thing before you do," Mystique said.

She left the room with no further explanation. Rogue followed her through the house and out the front door. A dark blue Mustang convertible was sitting in the circular drive, which was unusual since all the vehicles were kept in the large garage tucked behind the house. It took a moment before Rogue realized there was a big red bow sitting on the hood of the car. Her jaw dropped slightly as she caught sight of the vanity license plate that read 'ROGUE 1.'

"Mama," she breathed in awe. "You got me a car?"

Mystique smiled happily. "I thought the color could remind you of who got it for you, but if you want to get it painted…"

"It's perfect," Rogue said as she hugged Mystique. "Thank you so much."

When she pulled away, Rogue literally flew over the car so she wouldn't have to walk all the way around it.

"The keys are in the ignition," Mystique informed her.

Rogue opened the door and slid into the driver's seat, inhaling the distinctive scents of 'new car.' Mystique joined her, settling into the passenger seat. The older woman watched as the younger one played with all the accessories in the car, figuring out which buttons did what and where everything was located. The car dealer had nearly gone into paroxysms when Mystique had ordered the Mustang 'fully loaded' without waiting for the sales pitch. Seeing the delight on Rogue's face, Mystique knew it was worth the extra time she'd had to spend in a human form at the dealership.

"Do you want to go for a drive?" Mystique asked when Rogue lightly touched the key chain hanging from the ignition with a gloved fingertip.

A slow but happy grin slid across Rogue's lips as she nodded. "But just once around the road that circles the property. I think too much excitement will wear me out quickly."

Mystique lay a gentle hand on Rogue's arm, "How bad is it, really?"

Rogue looked down and away, "I have… really bad headaches and I get tired a lot faster than I used to. It's getting better every day, but it's slow."

"Maybe we should go see Emma Frost again. Or perhaps Xavier has returned from wherever he was."

"No," Rogue shook her head. "Emma did warn me this would happen. Once I'm at full strength again, even if I absorb and sort through a lot more people, it'll never be this bad again. A similar thing happened after I absorbed David since he was the first when my power re-emerged. My body is just… adjusting itself to the new situation. The healing factor I got from Logan isn't as strong as it used to be because of the strain." She grinned a bit crookedly at Mystique, "I don't suppose you know where Sabretooth is so I could borrow his?"

That surprised a laugh out of the scarlet-haired shape shifter. "No, I'm afraid I don't. Victor often disappears on his own for months or even years at a time. He probably won't show up again until Magneto is out of prison."

Silence fell for a tension-filled minute until Rogue buckled her seatbelt and turned the key in the ignition. "Let's see what this baby can do."

Despite the bravado of her words, Rogue actually drove rather carefully around the property's perimeter the first time, increasing the car's speed the second lap around. Mystique remained silent throughout the ride, but was obviously gathering the courage to speak as they walked from where Rogue had parked the car in the garage to the back kitchen entrance.

"Marie, I'm sorry about earlier. It just… slipped out."

_Don't give her too hard a time over this, my dear_, Erik counseled in her head. _She and I have had…_

'Do _not_ finish that sentence if you want to remain in my head,' Rogue interrupted him sharply. Aloud to her mother, she said, "Let's just forget about it, okay, Mama?"

Mystique opened her mouth to say something but then seemed to change her mind. A small, tremulous smile touched her lips as she nodded. They parted ways after the kitchen, Mystique going to her office to get some work done while Rogue headed for the library, picking out a book on Egyptian mythology to read in her room.

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When Rogue descended back to the main level of the house a few hours later, it was to find her housemates and Piotr arguing good naturedly about who got to go in what order in the pool 'tournament' as they hung multi-colored streamers from various pieces of furniture. The ceilings in the billiards room were too high to get to without the aid of a rather tall ladder.

"Piotr?"

Rogue wasn't sure why she was surprised to see him. He had come every day since her encounter with Carol Danvers, staying with her as much as his duties back at Xavier's had let him, why would today be any different? Perhaps it was the fact that he seemed to be getting along so well with the others that had her surprised.

Piotr came over to her and lifted her off the floor in a firm but tender hug, kissing her lightly on her cheek.

"Happy birthday," he murmured in her ear before setting her down again. "I was on my way in when the others were leaving, so they asked me to go with them."

Seeing a way to end the argument about the pool competition, Pietro declared, "Birthday girl decides!"

"Draw names out of a hat," she responded. "What are we playing?"

"Eight ball," Remy answered. "It be the only game everybody play."

Rogue's suggestion yielded the 'first round' pairings of Remy and Wanda, Rogue and Piotr, and Pietro and Avalanche, with Mystique being the odd one out. They all agreed to let Mystique join in on the 'second round' since she was arguably as good at pool as any of them. Avalanche won his game by a few balls. Rogue beat Piotr handily, and Remy distracted Wanda so much during her turns with outrageous flirting that he easily defeated her.

When Remy tried to do the same thing to Rogue in the second round, however, Mystique turned the tables on him by lightly brushing her hand against his backside when he tried to take a shot. He missed completely, much to the amusement of the others. Rogue was able to win their game, and Avalanche lost to Mystique. They took a break before the 'final round' to place the delivery order for Chinese food. Mystique and Rogue's game was neck and neck the whole game, the eight ball alone on the table for several turns since neither of them had a shot. Finally, Rogue called 'eight ball corner pocket.' Unfortunately she scratched, and Mystique won by default.

The last game had been a fairly fast one, and the food was still not expected for another ten minutes, so Wanda suggested Rogue open her gifts. Avalanche had given her a card with handmade coupons inside for him to give her new car oil changes and the occasional car wash and detail, explaining quickly that the group had seen her present from Mystique as they were leaving. Piotr gave her a DVD copy of her favorite sci-fi movie, The Fifth Element, along with a generous gift certificate to the chain bookstore in the mall.

Remy, Wanda and Pietro had all gone in together to get her a brown leather jacket. It was high-quality, the leather butter soft. It was a lightweight style that ended at her waist, the sleeves designed to be able to roll up to the elbow.

"I had noticed you didn't really have a summer jacket," Wanda said as Rogue modeled it for them. "And it's got pockets if you want to use it over your uniform, that way you have a place to put your gloves."

"Thank you," Rogue smiled. "All of you. These were wonderful gifts, I couldn't have asked for better."

The food arrived shortly after and the group served themselves in front of the TV. Since Rogue and Pietro were the only ones who had ever seen The Fifth Element before, that part of Piotr's gift was the dinner entertainment. When the movie was over, they all sat around and talked about it, as well as other movies they had all seen. The conversation remained lighthearted and continuous until everyone got tired.

It was by far the best birthday Rogue had ever had, and she almost burst into tears when she told her friends and adoptive mother so as they all said goodnight to each other.

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Jean held her head high as she entered Xavier's office. He had requested her presence only an hour after he had returned from Muir Island, and she was pretty sure it had to do with what had happened with Rogue while he was gone. Jean knew she was going to have to explain her part in how Rogue had ended up going to Emma Frost for help instead of getting it from them. Emma might be an ally some of the time, but she had different methods and beliefs than Xavier. Jean wasn't sure he'd like that Emma now knew what Rogue was capable of.

"Scott has informed me of what happened while I was gone," Xavier began when she had taken a seat facing him.

She felt like a child summoned to the principal's office to receive punishment for a major infraction. Only this was worse because she truly cared what Xavier thought of her. Jean nodded, showing him that she was ready to discuss the event.

"Would you care to tell me why you found it necessary to turn Mystique away when she asked for aid for Rogue?"

Jean took a deep breath. "You weren't here, and I had to use my own judgment on the matter. I didn't trust that Mystique was being truthful or that she wouldn't use the situation to her advantage even if she was."

"Are you sure that's the only reason, Jean?" Xavier asked with a knowing look.

Always having been honest with this man more than any other, even Scott, Jean sighed and carefully admitted, "I didn't think I'd be able to help her and… Rogue scares me."

"How so?" Xavier asked, not unkindly. "Although the two of you never got a chance to get to know one another, I don't believe Rogue has any desire to harm you for any reason. Though I must admit that might have changed as she has undoubtedly been told of what occurred. And Jean, you must learn to trust in your abilities if you are ever to achieve your full potential."

"I've never been able to fully trust anyone I couldn't read," Jean responded. "Even when Rogue was first here and was so timid and unsure of herself, I was never able to read more than her surface thoughts. And after that, when she was forced by circumstances to use her powers on Liberty Island, it made me see how strong she is, how strong she could be, and then I couldn't read her at all. If she ever joined the wrong side, or, forgive the expression, went rogue, she could be a very powerful weapon. Seeing Mystique claim Rogue as a daughter… I was afraid she had already joined our enemies against us."

"I do not believe that Rogue believes in Magneto's dream of mutant supremacy, and both Scott and Piotr have assured me she has not joined the Brotherhood," Xavier said. "She is simply a young woman trying to find a place for herself in the world. Rogue did not feel comfortable here but for her own reasons feels at home with her adoptive mother. No matter who we are, we all strive to be accepted, to be loved."

Jean nodded slowly, and after a brief pause Xavier continued.

"The time will come when Rogue may have to return here when the Brotherhood once more becomes active. And Jean, from now on, if we are approached for help by a member of the Brotherhood, be sure to be cautious, but do not turn them away on principle. There may come a day when we need their assistance as well."

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Piotr corrected the curve of his latest line and held the pad of paper slightly away so he could see the whole thing with a fresh eye. Rogue's familiar form filled most of the sheet, her legs curled under her and her hands folded demurely in her lap as she stared out the window. Piotr set the sketchpad down in his lap and looked up at the real thing in the window seat across the room. They were in Mystique's office along with Rogue's adoptive mother, the shape shifter still preferring to keep Rogue as close as possible.

Rogue was being quiet and sitting still mostly because of the fact that she was posing for him, but she was also doing so because earlier that day she'd had her first session in the DR since 'the incident' and she had pleasantly worn herself out. Piotr couldn't help but think that she'd been subdued pretty much all the time since her encounter with Carol Danvers. Thankfully, since her birthday Rogue had been showing marked improvement, resting less and returning slowly to her normal activities.

But she didn't come to the school anymore to pick him up, paying for him to take a taxi or parking down the road from the school the few times she had come to get him herself. Not that Piotr could blame her. Every time he passed Jean Grey in the halls he felt a tide of anger surge through him. He never let himself consider the possibilities of what might have happened if Emma Frost had not been able to help Rogue, but he knew that he would have completely blamed Dr. Grey if it had happened that way. It might even have been enough to send him back to the Brotherhood. Luckily, it hadn't turned out that way.

Piotr had, however, realized that perhaps Rogue meant even more to him than he realized. He knew he loved her; he had for some time. Piotr wasn't, however, sure just how much and in what way he did so. Had it gone beyond platonic love? Their friendship had always been deeper, more profound, than any he'd ever had before. He'd been so scared, so angry and upset when Rogue wasn't herself. He knew he wouldn't have ever been the same if he had lost Rogue. Piotr put an abrupt halt to his line of thought. Things were good now, and he was willing to let them stay that way.

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Rogue wasn't really looking out of the window in front of her. The sky was a beautiful pale blue and the grounds were lovely in the afternoon sunlight, but all of her attention was turned inward. Although it had been over a week since it happened, she was still mulling over everything that had taken place because of the mission she had gone on with Mystique.

Piotr and Mystique had filled her in on what she had missed while Carol had been in control and she had been unconscious, and Piotr had shared the 'debriefing' Scott, Storm and Jean had given him. Rogue was beyond grateful for the help Scott had given without asking anything but to be told she was okay in return, and she was relieved in a way that the X-Men now knew the truth about where she was. But at the same time she knew that even had she wanted them to, things would never be the same between her and the residents of Xavier's School.

She still couldn't believe that Jean had been so adamant about not letting Mystique onto the school grounds. The woman was a doctor, and although Rogue wasn't sure if it was a PhD or an MD, she did know Jean took care of injuries and such in the school, so she had to have taken the Hippocratic oath at some point. If it was so necessary to keep Mystique off school grounds… which she wouldn't have been able to if Mystique had truly been there for nefarious purposes as she had last year… Jean could at least have offered to come out and check on Rogue.

It also hurt to know that Logan had not called to check on her. Even if he had not received her psychic cry for help because of how far away he might be, the fact still remained that it had been nearly a year since he had left and no one had heard from him. There was always the possibility that he had run into trouble in his search for clues about his past, but she preferred to believe that he was still running around free somewhere up north. The Logan in her head reminded her when she worried that the Wolverine had been on his own for all the parts of his life he could remember. He would come back when he was ready, and he would take care of himself until then.

Rogue sighed. Her leg was falling asleep under her and she really wanted to shift her weight off of it, but she also didn't want to ruin her pose for Piotr. Realizing she hadn't heard the sound of Piotr's pencil scratching against the paper for some time, Rogue turned her head to give her best friend a soft smile.

"Done?"

"For today," Piotr nodded.

Mystique lifted her head in their direction, but seeing that they showed no signs of getting up to leave the room, she turned back to her work.

Piotr closed his sketchbook and moved across the room to join Rogue on the window seat, putting an arm around her when she leaned back against him, her legs stretched the length of the seat. They stayed that way for several minutes, Rogue once more lost in thought and Piotr just happy to be able to offer her that small comfort.

"I need you to set up a meeting with Scott for me," Rogue finally broke the silence.

Mystique's fingers stopped flying over her keyboard, letting the two younger people know that she was now listening intently.

Rogue turned her torso slightly and tilted her head back so she could look at Piotr, "I hate to keep putting you in this position, but I don't want to call and risk having to speak to… someone else. So could you ask him for me?"

"Of course," he said gently, lowering his head slightly to brush an absent kiss against her forehead. "I know Scott will say yes, just let me know where and when so I can tell him."

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Rogue smiled nervously at Scott as he slid into the bench seat across the table from her in the small diner. He smiled back before turning to ask the passing waitress for a cup of coffee. The woman frowned at the man wearing red tinted sunglasses inside, but scribbled a note on her pad and moved off to retrieve the coffeepot and a clean cup and saucer. She set the coffee down in front of Scott a few moments later before bustling away again, and Rogue watched silently as he added cream but no sugar.

"How are you?" Scott asked after he had taken a sip of his beverage, as if this was something they did regularly.

Which she supposed with her monthly phone calls they sort of had, just never in person before.

"Good actually, and yourself?"

"Can't complain," he commented blandly, his lips twitching slightly.

Rogue smiled, able to read the humor he found in the situation without delving into his mind, "This seems a bit silly, doesn't it?"

"A little," Scott smiled back. "But I am glad you asked Piotr to arrange this. I wanted to see for myself that you were okay, and I'm curious about a few things. As near as I can figure, you've been at the Brotherhood House for about two months. Where were you when you called before that?"

"New York City," she answered, fiddling with the container of sugar and artificial sweetener packets on the table, absently reorganizing the different types. Rogue was nervous about what else he might ask, but she had already decided he had at least some right to know the bare facts about everything that had happened since she left Xavier's school. "I was working in a diner and at the library and living in a small apartment. I didn't have my own phone, but even if I had I suppose I still would have used payphones. New York's a big city, even if you had tracked the calls back you wouldn't have known where to look."

Scott inclined his head in response. "And now? Are you living off Mystique? I hate to be the one to force you to face reality, but what's going to happen if Magneto ever escapes his prison?"

Rogue sighed, "I've already thought of that many times, believe me, and honestly I don't know where'd I go. But I do know that I would leave immediately. And I'm actually set financially. My foster mother left me a good deal of money as well as the house where she and Mystique raised me, so I suppose I could go there if I had to."

"I'm glad you have someplace to go," Scott said quietly.

Silent moments passed as he sipped at his coffee, studying Rogue from behind his ruby lenses. Having realized that he wasn't going to try to talk her into returning to Xavier's, Rogue had relaxed a great deal.

"Piotr mentioned that with Emma's help you were able to get rid of the personalities you didn't want," Scott mused. "You kept Logan, didn't you?"

Without knowing what she would eventually need Destiny's power for, Rogue didn't think anyone needed to know that her foster mother was still tucked away in a corner of her mind. The gift of prophecy was a powerful and unique one, and Rogue hadn't even felt comfortable telling Mystique that the echo of Irene had told her she'd need it at some point. Emma was the only one who knew, and that was because the other woman had been in Rogue's head with her during the sorting.

Rogue nodded, "Yes. But I also kept Eri… um, Magneto."

Scott's eyebrows rose and Rogue was sure his eyes widened, even if she couldn't really see them.

"Why would you _want_ to keep him?" the field leader of the X-Men asked gently.

Rogue glanced away for a long couple of minutes, trying to decide how best to explain the place her worst enemy had in her head. "He and Logan were the strongest voices in my head. Not just because they had touched me the longest out of anyone, but also because I relied on one or the other when I needed support during the last several months. Despite what the real Magneto did to me, or maybe because the one in my head feels badly about it, he's always tried to help me." Rogue met Scott's gaze, "I'm not ready to let that go."

Scott nodded slowly, "I guess I can understand that."

Rogue wasn't sure what to say to that, so she remained quiet.

"You know, Rogue," Scott said softly. "You don't have to stay away from the school. I won't be able to allow you into the lower levels, but there's no reason you can't visit Piotr and… your other friends on school grounds. The Professor won't mind."

"Thank you, but for now I'm just more comfortable away from there. Part of me is still angry that Jean wouldn't help me just because it was Mama asking for the help."

"I'm sorry," Scott said sincerely.

Rogue smiled and reached across the table to squeeze his hand with her gloved one, "Don't be. It's because of you that I was able to get the help I needed. I'll never forget that."

Scott squeezed back before glancing at the watch on his wrist. "I'm afraid I have to get going. So, should we permanently change from calls to meeting once a month? Let's say here at this time on the third Sunday of every month unless something comes up."

"Sounds good," Rogue agreed.

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"How'd it go, chere?" Remy asked when she got back to the house.

Rogue still had an honest policy going with her housemates, and she had told them about the calls she used to make to Scott as well as the meeting she had asked Piotr to set up. They had been fine with it, and Rogue was pretty sure that was mostly due to the fact that Scott had been the one to lead Mystique to the person who had helped Rogue.

"It was fine," she answered. "We've decided on monthly meetings instead of calls, and I got to thank him in person. I'm allowed to visit Xavier's, but I'm persona non grata in the lower levels."

"Sorry, chere. Gambit sure it's nothin' personal."

"I know, Rem," she replied. Rogue changed the subject cheerily, "Wanna help me with something?"

Remy looked uneasy. "With what?"

"I want to test my control."

Remy actually blushed, his Cajun accent deepening when he spoke. "Gambit not sure it be a good idea for de femme to see inside Gambit's head."

Rogue laughed lightly. "Don't worry, Rem. I'm _really _not interested in knowing just how much of a lecher you really are, and I wouldn't have to touch you if I was." She tapped the side of her head with a finger t remind him of her telepathy. "I have a system set up in my head for sorting people I've absorbed. I want to apply it to out here in the real world. I'll only touch you if I'm sure I'm not going to take your memories, I promise."

She could tell he was still reluctant, but Remy agreed to be her guinea pig.

"We should probably do this in the DR since your power is a bit destructive," she mused.

"Do what?" Mystique asked as she entered the room.

"Gambit gonna help de femme test her skin control," Remy answered.

Mystique turned to Rogue, "May I help as well?"

"Of course."

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It took nearly fifteen minutes of simply staring at her adoptive mother and her friend before Rogue could even see the colors she and Emma had set up to identify the different aspects of what she drew from a person with her touch. It took a great deal more concentration than it had in her head, and Rogue had been forced to use some of Xavier's telepathy on herself to bring what she had learned to do internally to the physical world. Another five minutes passed before she was able to see just the red signifying mutant abilities.

"Who wants to be first?" she asked softly.

Remy moved closer, "De suspense be killing me, chere. Touch Gambit with a kiss?"

He gave her his most charming grin. Rogue suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and leaned toward him, touching her lips to his cheek at the last moment instead of his waiting mouth. She hadn't really wanted to kiss him at all since she knew it would only encourage him, but Rogue figured she owed him at least that much for participating in her little experiment.

Remy staggered slightly as she pulled back, a hand going to his head. "Dat be a weird feelin'. Gambit hate to feel what de chere could do when she not bein' nice."

"Never give her a reason to show you," Mystique warned as she moved closer to them. "Rogue? How do you feel?"

Rogue had been looking at her gloved hands, and she raised her head to answer Mystique, "A little odd, like there's electricity in my fingertips."

Mystique gasped, "Rogue!"

"What?" she asked, startled.

"Mon Dieu," Remy swore softly from his place standing beside Mystique.

"Your eyes," Mystique said simply, using the wireless control panel she had brought into the DR to make a mirror appear near Rogue.

Peering into the smooth surface, Rogue found herself looking into red on black eyes like Remy's, only these eyes were in her own face.

"Guess that answers that question," she remarked, blinking at the strange sight a few times. "I _can_ take on physical mutations as well."

Having neglected to bring anything extra into the room, Rogue turned away from the mirror and peeled her left glove off. It was one of her older, more worn ones. She didn't care so much if she had to replace it. Concentrating on pushing the odd energy from her fingertips into the now-empty glove, Rogue flung it away from herself and her two companions when it began to glow. The resulting explosion was considerably bigger than Rogue had thought it would be, though luckily it was in mid air and didn't harm anything. She wouldn't be keeping Remy's power.

"I don't think I should try that again," Rogue remarked dryly.

Remy nodded, "We wouldn't want you to accidentally blow something up and get hurt, chere. Believe Gambit, it happen many times when Gambit young."

Rogue nodded. Concentrating with her eyes shut, she banished everything she had drawn from Remy out of her brain.

_It may not actually be able to harm you because of your invulnerability_, Erik remarked while she was still in her mind. _But it is a rather flashy power, and one I don't believe you need_.

'_Sides,_ Logan added his two cents. _You don't want that swamp rat thinking of anything you have as his_.

Erik was amused by Logan's comment, and Rogue had to stifle a laugh as she opened her eyes. Remy and Mystique would probably want to know why she was laughing and as much as Remy's ego could stand to be taken down a peg or ten, she didn't really want to hurt him.

"Your turn, Mama," she said, moving once more toward Mystique.

Mystique extended one uncovered hand.

"Oh, wait," Rogue murmured. "Have to concentrate first."

When she was satisfied that she wouldn't pull anything but abilities from her adoptive mother, Rogue touched her bare fingertips to Mystique's. Her own skin turned blue and Rogue laughed lightly at the second indication that physical mutations were not out of her grasp. When she glanced his way, Remy was looking at her oddly, but she brushed it off as surprise at what she was capable of. Once she had closed her eyes, gotten rid of the physical part of Mystique's mutation, and opened her eyes again, Rogue was already anxious to see how well she could shift into someone else.

"Can you make the mirror bigger?" she asked.

Mystique complied with her request, making the holographic mirror a full length one. Rogue stepped in front of herself and realized she had no idea how to go about this.

"What do I do?"

"Focus completely upon the person you want to become. The more often you do it, the easier it becomes so that it is now almost instantaneous for me. But when I first learned to control it, I would pick one part of the target's features and expand from there. I suggest you pick either Gambit or myself since we're in the room with you, or someone you can see clearly in your mind's eye."

Picking Piotr as someone it was safe in everyone's eyes to be that familiar with, Rogue concentrated on her best friend's form. Her skin rippled and her body expanded, taking Piotr's shape. It startled her so much that she was only able to hold it for a few seconds before she shifted back to herself.

"Whoa," she breathed.

Mystique smiled. "That was actually much better than I expected you to do on the first try. Do you want to keep practicing?"

Rogue nodded, and Remy excused himself with the reason of a developing headache.

"Does your head hurt?" Rogue asked her adoptive mother, concerned.

"No," Mystique shook her head. "All I felt was a slight drawing sensation when you touched me. It was _much_ more mild than it was when you were younger. I'm sure it's because of the system you and Ms. Frost created in your head."

Rogue stared off into space thoughtfully for a minute. "It could also be that your body is more accustomed to my power because I had touched you before. It was Remy's first contact with my skin."

"That could be it," Mystique responded.

Rogue turned her attention back to training. By the time they stopped an hour and a half later, she was able to hold Piotr's form as well as Mystique's for long minutes at a time, even switching between the two without shifting back into herself first. When the time she could hold a different form starting getting shorter instead of longer, Mystique called a halt to the exercises, promising Rogue that they could train more tomorrow and each day until it was time for Mystique to go back to Washington.

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Later that day Rogue drove to Xavier's School, picking Piotr up across the street from the main gate so they could go to dinner. Rogue had promised to come get him and tell him what happened in the meeting with Scott he had helped set up. Piotr was also still very anxious about how she was doing, almost as worried about her as Mystique. The only reason Rogue had been able to convince Mystique to let her leave the house on her own both times that day was because when she went to meet Scott she was only a short drive away and the meeting wouldn't be that long. Tonight, Mystique had made her promise to take her cell phone and call in every hour.

As she drove, Rogue told Piotr what had transpired during her meeting with Scott, and then she told him about testing her control technique on Remy and Mystique.

"So you can turn into anyone now as well?" Piotr asked with a thoughtful tone.

Rogue shrugged slightly, turning into the parking lot of the local IHOP. She had been in the mood for breakfast food all day, and she knew Piotr like their waffles and sausage.

"As long as I know completely what they look like. I'm not sure I could do it from just pictures yet, though. I still need to practice a lot more at it."

Piotr nodded his understanding.

"Actually," Rogue said. "I wanted to ask you to do something. Mama's birthday is in a few months, and even though she'll have been back in DC for a while by then, she's promised to come home for the weekend. I wanted to pay you to do a portrait of she and I that I can give her."

"Of course," Piotr answered. "But what does your new ability have to do with it?"

Rogue shifted into Mystique but kept her own voice. "I thought having a live model would be easier to work with."

Though he had at first looked surprised, Piotr smiled now, "Good idea."

Rogue smiled as well and shifted back to herself. She reached down and unbuckled her seatbelt, but Piotr stopped her from turning toward the door with a hand on her arm.

"Would you show me what Logan looks like?"

Her feelings for Logan as well as everything that had happened between herself and the man who owned her heart had been some of the many things Rogue and Piotr had discussed at length at various times through their special friendship. Piotr had suggested that she live her life now and consider looking for happiness with someone who would stick around, but he also respected her need to find out Logan's feelings before even thinking about trying to move on. Rogue had also admitted once that she was sure she would never completely move on from her feelings for Logan. If she was ever involved with anyone else, they would have to be content with less than her whole heart.

Rogue smiled sadly before shifting easily into Logan. She wondered briefly if it was easy to change into Logan because of who he was or if it was just easier overall to shift into someone who was already in her head, but she had no intention of ever turning into Magneto or Irene, so what did it matter? After a minute, Piotr nodded and Rogue returned to herself.

Her best friend smiled gently at her, saying, "You described him perfectly."

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"I'm gonna miss you, Mama," Rogue said as she hugged her adoptive mother.

Mystique's month at home had passed faster than anticipated, and she was now leaving to go back to Washington, D.C. to once more play the part of Senator Kelly. Rogue had improved remarkably in the past couple weeks, and Mystique felt comfortable leaving her. Not that she had much of a choice.

"I'll miss you, too, baby girl," Mystique responded, pulling back and glancing at the waiting helicopter. "I'll be back in a few months for the weekend of my birthday, and then the next time I have time off will be two weeks at Christmas."

"You don't get Thanksgiving off?" Rogue asked.

Mystique grimaced, "I have a charity dinner event to go to that Kelly attends every year. It would be suspicious if I didn't go."

Rogue nodded her understanding and gave Mystique one last hug before standing back and watching the older woman climb into the back of the helicopter. This one was Mystique's and would take her to Senator Kelly's home where the helicopter sent from D.C. would pick up the Senator a few hours later. Rogue waited until the aircraft was out of site before heading into the House. The others were waiting in the DR, ready for another session of let's-see-how-much-Rogue-can-handle.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined. **_Bold and italic_** signifies a vision. Yes, people, I am still alive, but what can I say, RL and writer's block suck. The next two chapters are already partially written, so there won't be as big a gap this time. Hope some of you are still around!

**Disclaimer:** I say again, the X-Men and related characters do not belong to me, they are Marvel's. However, Hannah, Decipher and Conchita, who first appear in this chapter, _are_ mine. No touchee.

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"Darkholme, party of three?" Rogue nodded, and the hostess smiled professionally. "Follow me, please."

When Rogue, Wanda and Pietro were seated, the hostess gave them small drink menus and told them their waiter would be with them shortly to take drink orders and give them their main menus. In deference to the formal atmosphere of the upscale restaurant Rogue had picked, she and Wanda were wearing dresses, Wanda's black and her own a deep shade of green. Pietro was dressed up in slacks and a silver-colored silk shirt. Pietro had been tense since before they even walked in the door, and when their waiter took their drink orders and left them three menus, he finally spoke.

"So, Rogue," he began. "What's with the fancy eats and only inviting Wanda and me? You're not leaving, are you?"

Touched by the genuine panic in Pietro's voice, Rogue reached over to pat his hand reassuringly with her gloved one.

"No, Speedy, nothing like that," she answered. "I just… well, I have a business proposition for the two of you, and I wanted to handle it away from the House. I thought taking you to a more formal restaurant would be nice, but we can go somewhere else if you'd prefer."

Pietro visibly calmed and picked up his menu with a smile. Evidently they were staying.

Wanda leaned forward, "Why not include the others?"

"Avalanche has his own thing and, frankly, I would never go into business with Remy. I trust him only to do what is best for himat the time."

The twins nodded agreement.

"What about Piotr?" Wanda pointed out.

"Between teaching, his art and the X-Men, he's got three full-time jobs already. Maybe he'll be involved further down the road, but to start it would just be the three of us."

Wanda nodded, and the two young women, seeing their waiter give them a questioning glace, picked up their menus and decided what to get. Once their orders had been placed, and the waiter had once more left them to their own devices, Pietro and Wanda once again turned their attention to Rogue.

"So, what's this business proposition?" Pietro asked.

"Well," Rogue began, "you know about the money Mama Irene left me, and the letter."

Pietro and Wanda nodded again. The Brotherhood had been momentarily surprised but otherwise non-responsive when Rogue was suddenly a millionaire. After all, they all lived in a mansion and had fairly unlimited resources without Magneto there to veto spending and Mystique giving them free access to Brotherhood funds. Not one of them was truly a "big spender." Being that flashy drew attention, and they had all learned through various experiences in their young lives that attention seeking wasn't smart for them.

The letter she had shared only with the twins, being so much closer to them than she was to Avalanche and Remy… not for lack of trying on Remy's part, though Rogue couldn't help but think his attempts always leaned more toward shallow flirtation than true friendship.

Irene had written how much she loved and missed Rogue, and had cautioned her to continue to have the accountant in charge of her trust follow Irene's investment instructions, that she would _need_ the money. Though they hadn't spoken of it in depth, not wanting to dwell on the fact that it _would_ happen and it would mean the end of their current lifestyle, all three of them assumed Irene meant that Rogue would need whatever protection the money could provide when Magneto got free. But the letter had also told Rogue to enjoy herself and to live in the moment whenever she could. Rogue had found the letter disturbingly foreboding in many ways but planned to take Destiny's words to heart.

"And, well, I want to have something to do, something that's mine."

"That's understandable," Pietro commented. "What did you decide on?"

"I want to open a club that doubles as a bar during the week. I know you both have experience bartending, and you can do that as well if you like, I know how good tips can be, but I wanted you two to be my managers. I've worked in the back room of diners and a few bars in my time on the road and in New York, and I plan on hiring a consultant to help us get started. Of course I want the place to be mutant-friendly only." Rogue gave them a brief outline of how the bar versus club aspect would work. "What do you guys think?"

"You've really put a lot of thought into this, Rogue, but I see at least one big problem standing in your way," Pietro commented. "You only turned twenty several weeks ago."

Rogue smiled, retrieving her two IDs from the clutch purse she'd kept in her lap for this moment. She handed one of the cards to Pietro, the one that identified her as the over-twenty-one Ann Adler. With a twitch of his silver eyebrows, Pietro passed it to Wanda, who stared at it for a long minute before quietly speaking.

"Is that your real name? Ann?" she asked softly.

"No," Rogue answered just as gently, not wanting someone to overhear and take her words the wrong way. "Ann is an alias Irene made up for me so I could pass as older if I needed to." She handed the second ID to Wanda, retrieving the first in the process. Rogue had already decided it was time to let her two closest friends in the House know who she really was. Wanda handed the second ID to Pietro who glanced at it silently before he handed it back to Rogue, who was still speaking. "I'd appreciate it if you kept this between us. I don't know why I guard my name so closely, probably because it's one of the few things no one's ever been able to take from me completely, and it's made it all that much more important to me."

"We'll only call you Marie in private," Wanda agreed, her eyes slightly misty.

Pietro sank back further in his chair and studied Rogue. "Marie Darkholme. It suits you."

Rogue thanked the young man with a smile before turning back to the conversation about the club. "Since Irene was the one who left me the money, I considered calling the place 'Adler's' or something similar, but I think 'Darkholme' has that something extra, you know?"

"I agree," Wanda responded; Pietro nodded his affirmation as well. "But it sounds like we wouldn't be contributing much, not enough to warrant all the extra effort of bringing us here and all, anyway."

Rogue shook her head but had to wait until their meals had been set in front of each of them before she could answer, "I told you I want you to be my managers, and believe me, you'll be earning the title if you agree. I've decided to take Emma Frost up on her offer of coaching me to further hone my abilities; it will mean leaving one or both of you in charge when I'm not around. And part of Emma's deal involves me working for her when she needs it, and I'm not even sure how often or when that will be. I'm not actually going to go to Emma until after Darkholme opens, but you can see that I will most definitely be needing you."

The twins shared a look and Pietro asked, "Could you make yourself scarce for a minute so we can discuss it?"

"Oh, of course," Rogue answered somewhat hesitantly, not sure how long she should stay away from the table.

I'll tell you when we're done, Wanda assured on the mental path Rogue had unknowingly opened the night of her encounter with Carol Danvers, the one she had cultivated with Wanda and Piotr and newly forged more recently with Pietro.

Rogue had not tried contacting Logan again since that accidental first time (though she still didn't know if he had ever heard her), knowing how much he hated having his head messed with, and nervous to find out how he would react to where she was living and who she was living with. She'd only telepathically spoken to Scott once since that night, assuring him she was on her way when she realized she was going to be late to their most recent monthly meeting. Scott had only shown the tiniest hint of surprise, more amused at her apologetic attempt than anything. Mystique, on the other hand, Rogue had stopped speaking to telepathically when she left for D.C. Rogue didn't want to surprise Mystique during any sort of meeting that might compromise her adoptive mother's cover. She wasn't actually sure the ability would reach that far, in any case.

Agreeing silently with Wanda's plan, Rogue excused herself from the table and made her way to the ladies' room leisurely. Stopping in front of a large mirror that was simply on the wall instead of over the sinks, Rogue fussed unnecessarily with her hair, killing time. The incongruous sight of the dog tag hanging around her neck along with the nice, long-sleeved dress and gloves she was wearing made her smile.

She had only considered taking off Logan's tag for a second before dismissing the notion. It and the psychic echo of him in her head were her most precious 'possessions' and she wasn't about to give up either one. As he and Erik had promised nearly two months ago when she had cleaned out her head, her Inner Logan had been less hostile about the Brotherhood and Rogue's choice to stay with them. It had been a more than welcome change and had actually helped lessen the headaches she still got on occasion. Nothing, however, stopped the nightmares.

The smile disappeared from Rogue's face. She had lied to Mystique and Piotr, telling them that the dreams had lessened so the two would be a bit less worried about her all the time. Rogue wasn't sure either of them had actually believed her, but her assurances had eased their active worrying a bit. But no matter what she had told them, the dreams hadn't lessened, and she had no idea how to get them to do so.

Just last night she had woken in a cold sweat after one of Erik's concentration camp torture dreams. After the incident with the gates when his power first manifested, the Nazis had been interested in harnessing his… they believed… _supernatural_ control over metal. But because he was still young, untrained and terrified, the young Erik had lacked control. This hadn't pleased the superiors of the officers in charge of his 'training' and the lower level officers had no problem taking out their anger over being disciplined on him in ways that even the most detailed documentaries on concentration camps failed to cover the scope of. Rogue never purposefully delved into Erik's memories of World War II, but she had recently been considering doing so in order to find out how he had survived so that she would have that information to fall back on, to further prove to herself that it was over, that it was just a nightmare, just a memory.

The combination of Carol's invulnerability and Logan's healing factor, both now hers, served to allow Rogue to sometimes go a couple nights without sleep. On those occasions she would busy herself with even more training, getting in extra practice at the sessions she took part in everyday. She had also begun reinvesting her time in all the various lessons Irene and Mystique had given her when she had lived with them. Ballet, modern dance, gymnastics, aerobatics, as well as varying martial arts and intellectual studies occupied her days and the long, quiet times when she eluded the Sandman. But invariably the time would come to sleep again, and she would once more dream things no one deserved to suffer through. It didn't help matters that some of the nightmares were truly her own.

Rogue sucked in and released a deep, cleansing breath before splashing her face with cold water. She didn't need to think about these things right now, she was supposed to be enjoying herself with Wanda and Pietro and thinking about the club.

'Happy thoughts, Rogue,' she told herself mockingly.

_Perhaps if you got rid of me, you wouldn't have my nightmares anymore_, Erik suggested in her head, his tone making it clear that leaving her head was still something he didn't truly want.

'Thanks for the offer, Erik, but I still have the dreams about Xavier losing his ability to walk, so I don't think that would do any good,' she reminded him.

Perhaps because they were the strongest of the three presences left in her head, or maybe because she relied on them so much, Erik and Logan were able to read her thoughts, which extended to knowing when and what she had dreamt. In a way, she was as much a part of them as they were of her. And they comforted her each time she was in need of it, much as Mystique had when she had been in residence at the House. Her odd little family, two of them "voices" in her head and one an absentee mother figure posing as a US Senator, was unconventional, but it didn't stop them from meaning a lot to her. Piotr, Wanda and Pietro were included in her makeshift family of course, but she wanted to keep them out of the worst aspects of her mutation as much as possible.

_I'm sorry, my dear, I hadn't thought of that,_ Erik replied to the reminder.

Rogue knew Erik's words were heartfelt, but she couldn't help being amused by the relief she could easily tell he felt.

Rogue… Marie, Wanda's astral voice tentatively tried out her real name. We're ready.

Leaving the restroom after she dried her face, Rogue smiled as she approached the table. The twins smiled back, Pietro with his lips pressed together since his mouth was full. Rogue waited until he had finished chewing before sending an inquiring glance at her two companions.

"Before we give you our answer," Wanda began, immediately causing Rogue to assume the answer was no, "we wanted to tell you that you've come to mean a lot to us. We've never had as deep a friendship with anyone else the way we do with you, and it means a great deal that you've asked us to be a part of this."

Wanda's voice quivered during her last sentence, and Pietro took over for her. "What we're trying to say is that we think of you as a little sister."

Emotion swelled within Rogue at their words, closing her throat and stopping her from speaking. Tears came to Rogue's eyes and, blinking rapidly to keep them from falling, she extended her gloved hands to each of them, Wanda and Pietro both taking the hand nearest them and squeezing tightly.

"Thank you," Rogue whispered, afraid she wouldn't be able to speak at normal volume; her voice was sure to crack from the emotion.

"We'd be honored to be a part of this with you," Pietro finally answered when they'd all gotten themselves under some semblance of control.

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It wasn't until a month after Darkholme had opened its doors, three months after Rogue had told Pietro and Wanda about her plan, that Rogue approached Emma Frost about the training she had mentioned that fateful night. Emma was more than happy that Rogue had decided to go through with it, and 'working for her' became an interesting aspect once Emma learned of Rogue's changed circumstances. Rogue trained with Emma on better controlling her telepathy, and the ability she had been born with, twice a week during the early part of the day when Darkholme was closed. And every week, or every other week, depending on what had been scheduled, Rogue accompanied Emma to dinners and parties held by the Hellfire Club.

The Hellfire Club was an exclusive club of influential or wealthy (or both) men and women, some mutants, some not, that met regularly to make connections with other members and spread news among their community. Unknown to most members, the Inner Circle, a group of men and women code-named after chess pieces… the place Emma had gotten her 'White Queen' code name…and were 'in charge' of the Club, kept tabs on everyone and everything that went on, using it to their advantage politically as well as financially. Several members of the Inner Circle were telepaths of one form or another.

Because she was rich in her own right and Emma was the one sponsoring her, Rogue was accepted as a lower level member immediately. Rogue wasn't 'Rogue' as a member of the Hellfire Club, though, putting into use the alias Ann Adler once more (she'd had to use it to get all the permits necessary to open Darkholme). To excuse the fact that she had a powerful mind block and wore concealing garments (the Club had a dress policy of revealing garments for the women and old-fashioned attire for the men), Emma had suggested a cover story for Rogue of having a touch-telepath ability that she could use weakly without touching, but could not control during skin-to-skin contact. Both Rogue and Emma didn't think it would be a good idea for anyone to find out all that she was capable of. The 'work' she did for Emma consisted of keeping her mind open to catch investment opportunities as well as anyone who might be using the Club for more nefarious purposes.

The former was fairly simple and Rogue generally had several things to report after each Club event. So far there had only been one time, though, that she had discovered anyone there for murderous intentions as opposed to just selfish ones. The man had been at Rogue's table at a dinner, and glee at having information to give his boss crossed the surface of his mind. The fact that his boss' last name was Creed stopped Rogue from turning her attention away from him and on to someone else.

If he was working with Sabretooth to try and free Magneto she needed to know, even if Emma wouldn't find it important. The man had an impressive mind block for a non-mutant, but Rogue was able to get passed it fairly easily. It was then that she realized the first name had been Graydon and not Viktor. Even without the aid of the man's knowledge, Rogue immediately remembered that her much older foster brother was a member of an active anti-mutant hate group. She had excused herself from the table on the excuse of needing the ladies' room and gone in search of Emma, accidentally walking in on a meeting of the Inner Circle in a private room.

"Sorry," she'd apologized when one of the men… Shaw, who was the Black King… stood with the intention of chewing her out. "Emma," when she got several glares from Inner Circle members, she corrected herself, "White Queen, there's a member of the Friends of Humanity at my table."

"Thank you, Ann," Emma had responded. "We'll have someone take care of it."

Rogue'd had to keep both Logan and Erik leashed as she sat back down with the FOH member and pretended nothing was wrong. Taking him out herself, while tempting, would have blown her own cover as part of the Hellfire Club and gotten Emma in trouble as well. So she'd sat quietly and pretended to be as confused as the other people at the table when two of Shaw's henchmen had come to escort him away. Later that night when the event had ended, Emma told Rogue that she had used Rogue's outing of the spy as a means to put forth the idea of making Rogue her personal assistant, and therefore a member of the Inner Circle.

Understandably, given their closed ranks and personal agendas, the decision would not be a quick one. But the Inner Circle had not immediately vetoed the idea, so Emma was optimistic. Rogue, however, was now on even higher alert to keep her mind block firmly in place. Shaw, the leader of the Inner Circle in his position as Black King, would be looking into every aspect of her life to determine whether it was worth the risk of including her in the group. Rogue was lucky in that all paper trails attaching her to Darkholme and to Emma were already under one name. Even though Marie Darkholme was co-owner of Darkholme, who would actually believe two identities solid enough to fool the IRS and business bureaus could be for the same person? There was also hardly any risk of her connection to the X-Men being discovered since Xavier had never been in possession of her real name, or her alias, to put in any documentation.

Rogue was not a name that had any meaning to the Hellfire Club, so the Inner Circle had little reason to come across it. There was, however, always the chance that Shaw would send a telepathic spy to check on her housemates or the people who worked for her. But Emma was of the belief that having ties to both the X-Men and the Brotherhood would actually work _in_ her favor instead of against her. Unfortunately, if they learned that much, they'd also learn that she and Emma had lied about her powers. Who knew how they'd react to _that_. At this point, it was basically a waiting game. And since finding out as much about the Friends of Humanity as they could from their new captive was priority one, the game could be a long one.

In the meantime, Rogue continued to train both mentally and physically. The focusing exercises continued, allowing Rogue to slowly but surely gain the ability to touch while only drawing one aspect for longer periods of time. But she still could not touch without drawing _something_ from the person she had contact with. Emma had also started her own version of the "what are Rogue's limits?" department of training that Pietro was so fond of. When Emma converted her body to the hard, diamond-like material that was her physical mutation, she was able to bruise Rogue with her punches and kicks, even snapping one of Rogue's ribs once. Rogue healed quickly, of course, and the brutality of the training was necessary for her to acknowledge that her invulnerability only went so far. Because though her friends and adoptive mother cared very deeply for her, there was no longer anyone around who could bring her back from the point of death with a simple touch.

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The bar was oddly quiet when Scott walked in, and for an instant his insecurities about wearing his red shades around normal humans allowed him to imagine it was because of him. But he quickly realized none of the people in the place, most of them men, were looking at him. They were all staring, with varying degrees of openness, toward the back of the first room, which appeared to have a partition-type wall that could be opened up to make the interior bigger. Scott walked further into the room so he could see what they were all watching so avidly.

There was an old-fashioned looking jukebox that none-the-less had CDs inside it against the temporary wall. But it was the shapely, jeans-clad rear end of the woman on her hands and knees partially behind the machine that had everyone's attention. His too, now. After a few seconds of wriggling that was… _interesting_ to watch, the woman backed out and stood, tossing her hair back over her shoulders in the process. A flutter of white… or at least what he knew was white to other people… among a curly fall of rich mahogany caught Scott's eye a second before the woman turned and revealed herself to be Rogue.

Scott quickly filed all of his previous thoughts in the section of his mind that Jean allowed him to keep private from her. He would have anyway, knowing how oddly insecure she was about his attraction to other women, but it being Rogue, he knew, would make it so much worse.

"George, quit unplugging this thing or I'll toss you out on your ear," she berated one of the men at a small table close to her. "And Hank, stop playing songs you know George hates or I'll toss you alongside him."

The two men grinned at each other and then at her, clearly unrepentant, and Scott had to wonder whether George cared at all about what song Hank was playing when he unplugged the machine. Rogue narrowed her eyes and shook her head at them, but moved away, spotting him moments later. She approached with a guarded smile, looking around and toward the sign for the ladies room as she stopped in front of him.

"Didn't think you and Jean frequented bars," Rogue commented.

"I used to occasionally," Scott answered. "But she doesn't. Jean's at a conference in D.C. for a week."

Rogue nodded and gestured toward a table away from other customers that had a bottle of Dr. Pepper sitting open beside a book. "Would you care to join me? I'm not really on duty tonight, just watching over the place."

Scott frowned at her last sentence. He had thought it odd when she spoke to the two men that way, but had put it down to probably working here, like Piotr (who Scott had passed at the door acting as bouncer) did. Even thought she was technically a year too young to do so according to what Xavier had told him about the approximate date of her birthday.

"Oh, didn't Piotr tell you?" she asked to his look. "Darkholme is mine. Opened it with some of the money my foster mother left me."

Looking around the place with new eyes, Scott replied, "It's nice."

"Thanks," Rogue responded cheerfully, turning toward the table she had indicated moments ago. "What would you like?"

"Bud in a bottle if you've got it."

"Sure do," she answered, waving a signal to a woman behind the bar who looked vaguely familiar.

The two of them reached the table and sat, and the next second a sudden breeze brushed over them both and Pietro Maximoff was standing in front of them, his light blue eyes narrowed at Scott.

"Speedy," Rogue said gently before Magneto's son could say anything, "he's a friend, remember? He led me to Emma. Do you really think he came here… _alone_… to make trouble?"

Pietro's stance relaxed and he tore his eyes away from Scott to focus on Rogue, "Fine. Piotr's here if you're wrong. I gotta go," he indicated a busty blonde waiting by the door with a nod of his head.

"Have fun," Rogue responded in an amused tone.

With one last glare at Scott, Pietro left, but not before a warning of a different kind, "You better tip my sister well, Summers."

"I'd tell you to ignore him," Wanda Maximoff, the young woman Scott had somewhat recognized from behind the counter, said as she set his beer in front of him, opening the top for him, "but I would like a good tip." The redhead, a much more auburn shade than his fiancée's hair and much curlier, smiled to show she was teasing before asking Rogue, "You need another?"

"I'm good. Thanks, Wanda."

Scott paid for the beer, and a very fair tip.

"Thank you for what you did for Rogue all those months ago, and before that as well," Wanda commented, her tone and face much more serious now.

"Of course."

With another smile for Rogue, Wanda headed back toward the bar, smacking a hand that reached for her behind on the way.

"They really don't mind about your connection to their father, do they?"

It was more of an observation than a question, but Rogue still answered it.

"Actually, they didn't even know at first. There were a few days of tension when they did find out, but we've grown closer since then. I don't know what'll happen if Magneto ever escapes, we don't ever talk about it, but for now they're definitely my friends."

The two lapsed into catch-up mode, filling each other in about recent happenings the way they did during their monthly meetings. It was some time later when Scott confided his previous worry over their mutual friend.

"When Piotr first told me about this job, I asked him why he needed another job when he was already teaching and painting and getting free room and board, but he said it wasn't about the money. I can understand why now."

Something in his tone made Rogue frown, and she told him carefully, "Piotr and I are very good friends, he's the best friend I've ever had, but we're not… involved, or anything."

That hadn't been what he meant, but the defensive way she said it made Scott want to find out more. He had seen how comfortable the two were the few times he'd seen them together, and he also knew Piotr cared very deeply for her from things he'd told Scott. And the way the young Russian had behaved when Rogue had been in serious danger… it had humbled Scott to see it. It was in everything Piotr did in connection with Rogue; the way he spoke of her, the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, the paintings and sketches he did of her.

"He loves you," Scott observed softly.

Rogue smiled warmly, "And I love him. But there are many different kinds of love, Scott, and the love he and I share isn't romantic."

Scott wasn't sure if she was right or not, at least on Piotr's end of things, but if Piotr had a reason not to pursue Rogue, then Scott would not be the one to mess up what they did have by pointing out the elephant in the room.

He gestured dismissively, "Anyway, that wasn't what I meant. Piotr enjoys things more when he's around people he cares about, and you're here."

Rogue nodded in agreement, "You're right. Piotr told me his favorite thing in the world back home was just to be in the living room with his family at the end of a long day and sketch with his sister next to him and his parents close by watching TV. I'm the closest thing he has to family here, and working here allows him to spend time with me without being at the House."

Scott nodded slowly and silent minutes passed as he sipped from his third beer of the evening. Finally, Rogue broke the companionable silence with a teasing tone.

"Is that why you came here? To see what Piotr was up to?"

Despite the levity of her voice, Scott could tell there was still a fear in her that he thought she could no longer be trusted.

He answered honestly but lightly, "Nah, I know Piotr can take of himself. The Professor heard one of the seniors talking about this place and wanted me to come check it out. Make sure no underage drinking would be imminent."

"Well, I have no intention of losing my license, so no worries there," Rogue answered easily. "Besides, during the week we're strictly twenty-one and over…" when Scott gave her a look she amended, "except the proprietor, of course. We're closed Sunday, Monday to Thursday we're just a bar, with the occasional pool tournament in the back room, and then Friday and Saturday we're a club. We're still eighteen and over then, though, so only a few of the students will be able to get in even then. Those under drinking age are required to wear a special wrist band and get their hand stamped, which shows up in the black lights over the bar even if they happen to take off their band. And the bartenders are all instructed to ask for ID if they have any doubts. We also serve water and soda, so… we haven't had too many problems so far. And when we do, well, that's what Piotr and the other bouncers are for."

Scott nodded his understanding. "Sounds good." He paused and smiled at her before asking, "Any chance of a friends-of-the-owner discount?"

Rogue laughed as he had intended her to, and answered, "That depends on how often you come in."

Later, when last call had been declared and most of the people had left, Piotr and the other bouncer came inside and started helping with the clean up, Scott pitching in when Piotr offered to drive him home if he did. When everything had been tidied and put away, Rogue opened a locked panel on the jukebox and flipped a switch inside. Evidently the switch allowed music to then be played free of charge, because she punched in a few selections and moved to the stand beside Wanda on the part of the floor that was cleared. As the up tempo beat of a country song from the early nineties filled the room, Rogue and Wanda began a slowed-down version of a line dance, letting Piotr and the other males that worked at Darkholme fall in behind them and learn the steps before moving normal speed.

Scott took a spot beside Piotr with a smile. It had been a long time since he had nothing to do but have fun, even if this was just a temporary reprieve. After another fast song that they danced the same steps to, a slower song played. Rogue moved to Scott with a smile as Wanda began to two-step with one of the bartenders.

"Care to dance?" she asked gently, her smile friendly.

Scott's answer was to take her into his arms and twirl her around the floor with nearly perfect footwork. But halfway through the song he noticed Piotr watching them and danced Rogue over to his teammate, realizing how late it was and that they had to leave sooner rather than later.

"I gotta sit down a minute," Scott excused. "You wanna take over, Piotr?"

Piotr smiled and easily accepted Rogue into his hold, pausing a moment to let her strip off her gloves before clasping the fingers of one hand and letting the other rest on his shoulder, close to his bare neck. Scott gaped in shock, Rogue telling him succinctly that Piotr was immune before the Russian guided her away from the visored man and across the floor. They moved together with a familiarity that Scott had seen only rarely in other people, and he found himself wondering again if Piotr felt more for Rogue than the young woman knew.

On the way back to the school, he decided to ask Piotr about it.

"If you're immune to her touch and you care so much about each other…" he tried.

"She loves Logan. Even if he isn't here physically, he'll always be in her heart," Piotr responded simply, and Scott knew it was the end of that conversation.

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Nearly a month after outing the FOH member, Rogue was in the middle of one of her Inner Logan's standard 'lab torture' nightmares when it suddenly stopped. She knew she had to be dreaming, but what came next was unlike any dream she'd experienced before. Her nightmares were vivid, and she could often feel the pain inflicted in them, but they never encompassed all five senses. _This_ did. It was like she was completely and fully there, even though she knew she wasn't.

_**She was dressed in her uniform and flanked by Pietro and Wanda, who were also 'professionally' clothed. There was a warehouse-type building in the distance and she could smell the pollution from factories a distance beyond it. She heard herself say, "I've seen this place before. They have kids here too, not just adults."**_

**_As if to prove her own words to be true, though they probably wouldn't appreciate being called kids, the dream jumped and Rogue found herself in an odd room with cement walls and a row of doors, beside each of which a section of the wall was crumbled. A set of teenage twins, a boy and girl with Hispanic features and skin tone but blue hair and eyes, stood before her. And though they were both striking, it was the fact that they were about to lead her somewhere… her own voice echoing, "Do you know where they're keeping Hannah?" … that was truly interesting._**

_**The dream shifted again, a brief vision of a sickly looking young girl, followed by a tombstone with all but the word "Hannah" blurred out of focus. There was a sense of urgency to that final image that told Rogue that whoever Hannah was, she didn't have much time left.**_

Rogue woke with a start, but she couldn't see anything. She began to panic. Even in the deepest, darkest part of the night, the enhanced eyesight she had inherited from Logan's touch could see nearly every corner of her large bedroom. So why couldn't she even see her hand in front of her? She was so confused that it took reaching up to see if there was something covering her eyes before she realized that something warm and wet was sliding down her face. It started near her nose and was slowly dripping off her chin. Rogue licked her lip cautiously and gasped.

It was blood! Her nose was bleeding. She'd never been prone to nosebleeds before, but she'd seen enough movie and TV characters with them to automatically pinch her nostrils closed and tilt her head back. But that still didn't explain why she was suddenly blind. Even if some illness had befallen her that would have stripped a normal person of their sight, Logan's healing factor wouldn't have allowed it to remain. For that matter, why was her nose still bleeding?

_It's a side effect of the vision, Marie,_ Irene's voice sounded remorseful. _My power is a strong one and it is momentarily suppressing all your other mutations, except for your skin of course. Your body isn't used to it, and may never be, and the way it's dealing with this is to tell you something is wrong by giving you symptoms to get your attention. It will probably happen any time my power works, but you need to hold onto the ability for a little while longer._

'Why?'

Rogue thought her inner voice sounded rather whiny, but was it too much to ask to be able to choose for herself which abilities she kept and which ones she got rid of? Especially if they were a danger to her health.

_Just trust me child,_ Irene responded firmly.

'Why not just tell me all of it now? Get it over with. Then I'd never have to go through this again.'

Rogue could feel Irene's hesitation before the psychic echo of her deceased foster mother replied, _I'm afraid it can't happen that way. Knowing that much of what's to come that far in advance could change the future in ways even I could not begin to fathom._

'How do I go about seeing again?' Rogue asked resignedly. She added with a touch of sarcasm, 'With my eyes.'

_I will fade back to my little corner of your mind, and Erik and Logan will return. They'll help you._

Irene did as she said, disappearing back to wherever it was she normally hid. Searing pain so sudden it knocked the air from her lungs and left her gasping spiked through Rogue's head, feeling how she imagined it would feel to have someone slam white hot lances into both eyes and all the way through her brain.

Rogue didn't stop a physical scream from tearing from her throat, knowing if she stifled it, her pain would seek another outlet through her psychic link to her friends and maybe even Mystique. And there was nothing any of them could do about this. Though Rogue would have liked to be comforted, she acknowledged that knowing about this latest 'injury' would only make them all feel bad, powerless to help her. And when her head hurt badly enough, and this certainly qualified, she had a harder time blocking what people projected around her.

_We're here for ya, darlin'_, Logan growled comfortingly in her head.

Erik suggested gently, _Why don't you take some Tylenol and try to get back to sleep, my dear? Your healing factor works even better on things like this when you get enough rest._

'I know, Erik,' she responded distractedly. 'And thank you both, but I can't sleep. It's going to happen soon.'

Once she had gotten more of a handle on dealing with the agony in her head, Rogue went into her bathroom to wash the blood from her face. Her short nightgown had gotten blood on it as well, and Rogue stripped it off to soak in the sink, pulling on a terrycloth robe. Running a brush through her hair, she left the mass down, knowing her skull would not thank her for the tension and weight of a ponytail. Tying the robe snug around her, Rogue headed down to the changing room where she and Wanda kept their uniforms.

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Scott covered his mouth when a yawn escaped, sitting up a little straighter in his chair. Minutes ago Xavier had woken Jean telepathically. Jean had then woken him and the couple had come down to Xavier's office together for a mission briefing. It was the wee hours of the morning and thankfully the coming day was Saturday, but even if they'd all had classes to teach, they still would have been doing this. As Xavier started telling them about the place that was holding a group of mutants for future experimentation, Scott was disgusted, not for the first time and almost certainly not for the last, at the horrible things people would do to each other out of simple fear and hatred.

"I came down half an hour ago to investigate a disturbance in the astral plane using Cerebro," Xavier was telling them. "Unfortunately by the time I had gotten there and activated the machine, the disturbance had disappeared. It was shortly after that when I sensed someone with knowledge of the holding area. There is another group that is also planning to help these people."

"Is it anyone we should be wary of?" Jean asked softly.

Scott stiffened. Jean had been abnormally paranoid about every mission they had been on lately, afraid that the Brotherhood would show up and get in the way or start a fight with them. She had been that way ever since they had learned where Rogue was now living. Scott had asked Jean to try to control her fear, outwardly at the very least, and though she was not being specific about who it was she thought might be a threat this time, Scott knew she meant the Brotherhood. Xavier had to know as well, but if he did, he chose not to acknowledge it.

"No," the older man answered Jean gently. "I sense no hostile intent from them. They are just there to help the less fortunate. However, they don't seem to have a plan much beyond getting the captives out, and that is why I am still sending in the full team in the Blackbird, despite the proximity of the site."

Scott nodded acknowledgment to Xavier's final statement, and he and Jean left the office to wake the other two X-Men and prepare to leave.

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"Here you are!" Wanda exclaimed when she came into the women's dressing room, where Rogue had been waiting, uniform on, for nearly half an hour. "I was a little worried when you weren't in your room."

"Sorry," Rogue replied softly.

"It's okay. Hey, why are you in your uniform already? Pietro asked me to tell you about the mission just in case you wanted to come," Wanda kept talking as she changed into her own costume. "Did Mystique change her mind about letting us decide for ourselves whether to ask you to come along? Pietro tried to tell her that it would be best for you to get back in the saddle, so to speak, but she wasn't sure about it which was why she called him in the first place and not you."

Rogue shook her head, "Mama didn't call me."

"Oh. Well, you must have picked up something from Pietro or me about needing to leave in a hurry." Rogue shrugged awkwardly, and Wanda continued. "Mystique found evidence of a holding area for mutants with obvious physical mutations. It's nearby and not too heavily guarded so she thought we could handle it ourselves instead of having to wait for a time when she's be able to come with us."

Rogue nodded and took note of Wanda's dressed form. "You ready?"

"Yeah, the guys are going to meet us in the garage, we'll be taking two of the SUVs. I don't know what we're going to do about the captives, but this is just a break-out, not a recruiting mission, so I guess we'll just tell them to go to ground." Wanda paused, staring at Rogue for a minute. "Did you dye your hair?"

Frowning, Rogue answered, "No, why? Is something wrong with it?"

Wanda shook her head. "No, it just seems like your white streak is thicker. Must be the light in here or something."

But when Rogue glanced in the mirror as they were leaving the room, she saw that Wanda had been right about her white streak. It wasn't a huge difference, only half again what it had been before, but it was a difference nonetheless.

_It must be a reaction to intense stress_, Erik observed. _First my… treachery, and then being forced again to use a power you had no chance to control at the time._

Rogue heard the shame in Erik's mental voice and responded, 'Must be. But unlike your ability which has proven _very_ useful, I will never gain control of Irene's gift.'

_And I am sorry for that as well, my dear_, Erik intoned.

Logan growled, _What is it with people and forcing abilities on you without your say-so?_

Rogue almost laughed. 'I have no idea, but look at it this way, if they didn't, neither of you would have a reason to be in my head.'

It calmed the two main residents of her head to hear her say that, and it was a bit scary for Rogue to realize that sometime in the past year it had become a good thing, a comfort, that they were there. Some part of her had to have acknowledged it before… why else would she have continued to keep them both when she had the chance to get rid of them… but this was the first time she had consciously thought about it.

She and Wanda had reached the garage, and Rogue shook her head slightly to clear it of thoughts, needing to focus on the situation at hand. A few minutes later Avalanche, Pietro and Remy showed up. Avalanche and Remy got into one of the two vehicles they'd be taking, but Pietro pulled Rogue aside before she could climb into the second with Wanda.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he asked. "We'll be okay without you if you're too tired or… anything."

"I appreciate you trying to play overprotective big brother, Speedy, but I'll be fine," Rogue answered with a small squeeze to the hand holding hers. "Like Wanda mentioned you saying, I need to do this again, to prove to myself that I can. What better time than on a mission that has less of a chance to prove dangerous?"

"Alright," Pietro agreed. "But if you need to get out of there before we're done, promise you'll let one of us know."

"I promise."

They left moments later, Pietro driving the two young women. It was only a twenty-minute drive to a warehouse district close to an industrial area. The target building had a large back lot which was overgrown with dry weeds. The two SUVs were parked across the street from the lot, and Rogue and the others began walking, keeping their eyes open for any hint of security men or equipment. But there appeared not to be any.

Rogue froze when the building came into view.

"You okay?" Wanda asked.

Wanda's concerned touch on her arm snapped Rogue out of her trance.

"Fine," she answered softly. "I've seen this place before. They have kids here too, not just adults."

None of them asked her where she had seen it before, and Rogue thought it was probably because they assumed it came from her head. She had the memories of several people, more than one of whom this place could have a possible connection to. There was still no need to reveal that Destiny had remained in her head.

Pietro's jaw clenched. "Then let's go get them out."

Rogue smiled tightly at the silver-haired youth and nodded. Almost as one, the Brotherhood and their housemate moved faster toward the structure. Gaining entry was simple; one well-placed kick from Rogue took out the door, some of the doorframe and the connecting wall. The falling debris knocked out the two guards that had been just inside. As Mystique had reported, security was at a minimum. The lab was crude, obviously not as well funded as the one Rogue and Mystique had broken into.

The hallway they entered led to a large, main room that was made up of several concrete-walled cells and guarded by two men with automatic weapons, but Pietro had run through the room and taken the guns before the guards knew what was happening. Rogue and Wanda each knocked out one of the men, Rogue with good old-fashioned fisticuffs (backed by just a bit of super strength) and Wanda with her hex power. To save time on unlocking all the cells, Avalanche used his ability to crumble a section of wall by each door, allowing the captives to squeeze through into the open part of the room. Rogue forcefully removed the door on the last cell when no one exited it, having noticed that the two teenagers from her vision weren't among those who had come out of the other cells.

A frightened squeak echoed from the dark cell and Rogue cautiously eased inside. Both of them were there, huddled in a corner. The male teen was holding the girl protectively, his facial features set defiantly. But as he stared at Rogue, the look faded slowly to be replaced with slack-jawed amazement.

"I'm not here to hurt you," she assured gently, holding her gloved hands with fingers splayed wide to show that they were empty. "My friends and I are here to help you get out."

The boy's arms loosened from around the girl and Rogue stooped slightly to help pull her up. While she was doing so, the boy quickly scrambled to his feet and laid his bare hand on her face. Rogue jerked back an instant later, doubly glad that she had gone into the entire situation with her skin tuned to "just abilities" in case of accidental touching; she hadn't wanted to hurt her friends or the mutants they were trying to free.

Rogue turned to warn the teenager about the dangers of what he had just done… and found herself wondering two things. One, why did he look so pleased with himself? And two, how did she suddenly know that although he shared the same physical mutations as his sister, blue hair and the ability to breathe underwater, the boy also had a secondary ability, that of knowing with only a glance what another mutant's power was? It took only a second longer for that thought to sink in and for her to realize he had given _her_ that ability through his brief touch, which hadn't been long enough to copy his physical mutations.

"Why did you do that?" she asked softly. "You could have been hurt."

The boy shook his head, shaggy hair falling into his eyes before he swiped it away. "Part of my ability is knowing how much of theirs another mutant is using. I knew you wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh." Realizing she was still holding onto the boy's sister, who didn't seem to mind, Rogue let go of the girl's hands. "Well, come on, let's get you two out of here. And thank you, your power will complement mine well."

The boy smiled widely, "I know, that's why I gave it to you in return for helping us. This is my sister, Conchita. I go by Decipher. Sorry we didn't come out right away, but they've tried to make us think we were being freed before and they… punished us when we tried to leave."

Anger on their behalf boiled inside Rogue, but on the outside she remained calm and followed them out of the cell. A strong sense of deja vu flooded her as she looked over Conchita's shoulder to spot a door with a scanner next to it.

"Do you know where they're keeping Hannah?" Rogue heard herself ask.

Conchita's eyes rounded in shock, but Decipher was already headed for the door. Rogue followed him, Conchita close behind her.

"Decipher, are you sure this isn't a trick?" Conchita asked her brother quietly when she reached his side, Rogue's sensitive hearing easily able to pick it up.

She was unable to take offense under the circumstances.

Decipher's eyes darted to Rogue and back to his sister, before answering clearly, not attempting to whisper, "She _sees_, 'Chita. Someone gave her that power like I just gave her mine. She collects. She has telepathy, super strength, healing, flight and senses too."

"Wow," the girl breathed, staring at Rogue with wonder now.

"Rogue," Pietro called as he drew closer to her, the rest of the Brotherhood trying to keep the other escapees calm and together, at least until they were clear of the building. "What are you doing? We need to get out of here in case there was an alarm or something."

"She's going to go get Hannah," Conchita informed him simply before Rogue could try to think of an explanation on how she knew there was another mutant being held here.

Pietro's silver eyebrows winged together in a frown. "There's another holding area?"

"No," Decipher answered. "They just keep Hannah in the medical room all the time now. She's sick."

"Dying," Rogue added quietly, feeling coloring her tone. "I won't let her die here, alone."

"What's going on, Rogue?" Pietro asked, confused. "There's no way you learned all that and feel that way from the few moments you were in the cell with these two. Unless they're somehow connected to this Hannah and you touched them."

Decipher stepped toward the older male and, picking up on his intention to lie to protect her secret, Rogue held up a hand.

"What do you know about Destiny?" she asked Pietro.

"You mean besides the fact that Irene was your foster mother and left you the money for Darkholme? And that she was a powerful precog but couldn't always control what she saw…" Pietro trailed off slowly, his light blue eyes widening slightly. "You touched her."

It wasn't a question, but Rogue treated it like one. "Actually, she touched me. The Irene in my head once told me that I would need her ability. But early this morning was the first time it actually happened. I saw snippets of this place… and of Hannah. But as soon as I can, I'm getting rid of this ability. It hurt me to use it. I woke up blind with my nose bleeding and my head…"

Pietro flinched, and Rogue sighed. He and Wanda both knew how taxing it sometimes was on her physically when she overused more than one power, and Pietro would be able to tell from the way she had faltered that even though she had no control over this particular ability and had not actually tried to use it herself, it had been worse than usual.

"I don't suppose there's any hope that saving this girl is going to be the end of it, that Irene'll leave your head after?"

Rogue shook her head, "No. I already asked her."

"Maybe you should call Emma Frost when we get back to the House," Pietro suggested. "She might know something that can help."

"Emma's in London on Hellfire business for the next two weeks, I can't call her back here for something like this. And Pietro, it isn't about me right now," she ignored his mutter that it should be and continued, "I don't just need to save Hannah, I want to. There's something about her…"

She trailed off again, but this time Pietro didn't argue with her or question her. Instead, he turned to the Brotherhood and the mutants they had just freed.

"Avalanche, stay here with the prisoners. The rest of us will help Rogue get the last captive out. If anyone comes, take out the outside wall with your power and make a run for it. Otherwise wait for us and we'll all leave together."

He turned toward Decipher and Conchita, his mouth open, but Conchita cut him off with a defiant glare.

"We're going with Rogue."

Pietro shook his head in exasperation but gave Rogue a "go ahead" gesture.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

Very sorry about the delay on this one, this chapter didn't like me much (my muses appear to be on strike again, then I got sick (more than once), and work has been **_crazy_** lately), and then once it got going, it just _kept_ going… it will most likely be the longest chapter of this story.

**Disclaimer:** Once again, I do not own the X-Men or their acquaintances and adversaries; they are Marvel's. However, Hannah, Decipher and Conchita_ are_ mine. No touchee.

**Archive:** FFN, wrbeta mailing list and eventually the WRFA (under FlameDancer77), ask me.

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Using her control over metal, Rogue destroyed the scanner on the wall, causing it to short-circuit and unlock the door. It would have been faster and just as easy to use her super strength to knock the door out of the way, but she had the integrity of the doorway to consider. She might be invulnerable and relatively free from the hazard of the doorway collapsing on the way through or back, but her companions and the little girl she was going to rescue were not. Never once hesitating, Rogue led the way down one narrow hallway and then another before stopping in front of a door reading simply 'Medical.'

Rogue drew a steadying breath before reaching for the door. She tried the usual method first, turning the knob with a slightly shaky hand. Unfortunately, it was locked. Concentrating with Erik's help, Rogue identified the individual components of the knob and it's locking mechanism before gently unlocking it. From the ordinary, soft click that resulted, whoever was inside should assume the person unlocking the door had a key.

Still, Rogue was cautious as she walked into the new room. It looked much like an examination room in any doctor's office, with the odd sensation of being even more impersonal. There was one exam table, upon which a young girl lay, and several counters and cabinets which Rogue was sure contained things no ordinary doctor's office would. The blonde child on the table was hooked up to an IV, but the man standing over her had a regular syringe in his hand. A hand that quickly became unsteady when the man looked up to find Rogue entering the room. No doubt working in a place like this would make anyone paranoid about someone whose hair wasn't precisely a normal color.

"Drop it," Rogue warned in as calm a tone as she could when she scanned his mind enough to know that it was a lethal dose of a pain reliever.

Despite her warning, or perhaps because of it, the doctor made a stupid mistake… especially considering there were several mutants standing in the doorway and no other way out… lunging for the little girl. Rogue ripped the syringe away by pulling the metal needle sharply to the left, and flew over the bed fist first to lightly strike the man in the chest, knocking him back several steps. She glanced back at the little girl she knew had to be Hannah, noting that she was apparently out cold. Making a split second decision, Rogue glared at the doctor, staring until she could only see the white glow that signified she could touch him and take his memories.

When she peeled her gloves off, someone behind her made a startled sound, she thought it might be Remy, but Decipher 'shushed' whoever it was and Rogue moved toward the human as if there had never been an interruption. The doctor, who had backed himself into the counter when he regained his balance, shrank back from her approach, though he had no way of knowing what was coming, or how much worse it could have been for him if she was less reluctant to kill.

Rogue ignored the younger part of his life as her palm touched his clammy cheek and his memories flowed into her. She latched on to any medical knowledge she thought would be useful, tensing when she discovered just how low he thought he had sunk to accept a position where he had to treat mutants, no matter how good the pay. When she had gotten what she needed from him, she pulled her hand away, only to swing forward again with a fist, connecting solidly with his jaw. She heard a crack and watched coldly as he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"You okay?" Pietro asked from the doorway.

Rogue nodded absently and turned to the examination table. Thin, pale eyelids fluttered for a few moments before lifting to reveal large, haunted brown eyes. As she stare into eyes she was seeing for the first time, Rogue had an overwhelming feeling that she had known this soul her whole life, and perhaps before. And she had never before wished that she could reverse her mutation and give someone else the powers she had received from others, but she did now. She would give anything to be able to give Hannah her healing factor… but it wasn't possible. And Rogue suddenly knew that whatever time Hannah did have left, Rogue was going to make sure the little girl had everything she could possibly want.

"Hi, Hannah," she greeted softly. "I'm Rogue."

Hannah's eyelids fluttered again, and Rogue picked up the fragmented thoughts, 'Too weak… want to talk…'

Go ahead, Rogue urged gently. I can hear your thoughts.

Hannah's lips curled upward at the corners, her eyes sparkling slightly in interest. It had probably been some time since she had been able to communicate, let alone have someone to communicate to who would actually listen. Are you going to get us out of here?

"Yes," Rogue answered aloud, knowing if she was silent too much longer Pietro and the others would get nervous. "We are here to free all of you, but I was wondering if you'd like to come home with me?"

A wave of sadness swept through the telepathic 'channel' between Rogue and Hannah.

I don't have much time left… 

"I know."

Rogue focused for a moment on the swirl of colors around the girl, the green being the faintest Rogue had ever seen on another person. Hannah's ability to project images from her mind, which she was probably too weak to ever use again, was an interesting one, but it wasn't what Rogue really wanted to get from touching her, though she would copy it in case it later became necessary.

Hannah, when I touch other mutants I can absorb their powers and memories, she told the girl silently. Would it be all right if I did that?

The little girl blinked twice before asking, So you can know me?

Exactly.

Okay.

Rogue pulled off a glove and gently laid her hand on Hannah's slender arm, making sure to concentrate on the red and white aspects of Hannah's waning aura. Seven years of memories flowed into her, the better part of them in the custody of anti-mutant humans, this lab being the last in a relatively long line. Hannah didn't even know how she had come to be in their possession the first time, having no memory of her parents. Tears filled Rogue's eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she witnessed all the things this innocent child had been subjected to. It was one thing to know what torture and experimentation people would inflict on a grown man like Logan, but to see them do things nearly as bad, if not worse, to little more than a baby? Rogue had no words for how horrible it was. To her it was nearly on par with the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust.

Pulling her hand away and putting her glove back on, Rogue's eyes never left Hannah's. The younger mutant's brown orbs were wider than before, watching Rogue with a look of awe. Rogue realized from Hannah's swirling emotions and thoughts that somehow part of her wish had come to pass; her mutation _had _reversed itself. Unfortunately it was only enough that Hannah had seen Rogue's life as well. But at least it was something, and Hannah would now be able to spend her last days with someone she knew.

Rogue turned her head back to the door, meeting the gazes of the people waiting there for her. Remy was watching her with a guarded expression. Decipher was whispering softly, explaining to Conchita what had happened. Wanda and Pietro were both worried about her, knowing she had already been taxed beyond her normal limits before they had even come here.

Her eyes fell on Pietro last, and Rogue told him, "Just give me a minute to gather up what I need to keep her comfortable and we can go."

Finding a bag with a shoulder strap the still-unconscious doctor had known was in the room, Rogue filled it with enough medicine and supplies to take care of Hannah for longer than the child had left. She decided to carry it and the girl herself. That way, if they ran into trouble on the way out, Rogue could fly Hannah and the bag out of the fight and not have to worry about what could happen to either one. When the bag with the supplies was firmly over her shoulder, Rogue lifted Hannah into her arms, detaching the IV as gently as possible. She tucked the thin hospital-style blanket from the exam table around the too-light body, letting Hannah keep one hand out and clutching on to the front of her uniform like a security blanket.

Rogue faltered for only a second as she turned to go, This is what you want, right? If you want me to, I can take you to the X-Men instead.

No, Hannah's reply was immediate. I want to go with you.

With a soft smile at Hannah, Rogue nodded her head to Pietro, letting him know she was ready. Rogue kept to the rear as the group made their way back to where the others were waiting for them. After briefly recapping to Avalanche what had happened, Pietro led them out of the building. None of the previously knocked out guards had regained consciousness, and there was no sign that any alarm had existed to be tripped since no backup was forthcoming. The only thing that slowed them down at all was having to walk out into the field a few at a time through the broken doorway. So Rogue was confused when she finally made her way out of the building only to have to stop to avoid running into the person in front of her.

Lifting off the ground a few inches so she could see over the heads of the escaped mutants, she sighted the shape of the Blackbird not too far away in the field. Sucking in a shaky breath, Rogue made her way through the small crowd, sending Pietro a mental message as she moved.

I'm making my way to the front, Speedy. Stay calm; they wouldn't try anything as long as an innocent might be hurt in the process.

Pietro's response was nervous but still typical of him. It's times like these I wish you had my power.

Rogue allowed her amusement to flow between their connection before concentrating on the task of making her way through the small crowd of mutants without jostling Hannah at all. She had actually tried to copy his power once in one of their training exercises, but the experience had left her shaking and her heart beating oddly, trying to adjust itself to the change in metabolism. She hadn't kept his power for more than a handful of seconds.

Rogue stopped walking when she was standing within touching distance of Pietro. Her eyes swept the X-Men quickly. Scott had taken point, as she knew he usually did. Jean was to his right, while Storm was to the left and slightly behind them. Piotr was about ten feet behind and to the left of Storm. Rogue fought an amused smirk as she realized Scott's gaze was scanning the Brotherhood and the recently escaped mutants much as she had just been doing to the X-Men.

Scott did a double take when he saw her and suddenly all of the X-Men were looking at her instead of at the Brotherhood. Rogue tensed but reached out tentatively to Scott's mind to let him know she had only been here to help free the building's captive mutants, that it was the only reason any of them were there. A barely perceptible nod followed by a slight relaxing of his stance answered her unasked plea not to attack the Brotherhood, and she breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"It's alright," she told the wary escapees loudly enough that they'd all hear her. "These are the X-Men; they'll be able to help you."

After a slight hesitation, the escaped mutants began to move toward the jet, most of them thanking whichever Brotherhood member they happened to pass on the way. Decipher and his sister deliberately made their way to Rogue to thank her again as well as say good-bye to Hannah before moving to follow the others. Conchita turned around once as they walked away, blowing a kiss in Rogue's direction. Rogue allowed a brief smile at the teenager before schooling her features back into an alert but non-provoking stare.

"That one, too," Jean commanded frostily when Rogue made no move to hand the little girl in her arms to any of the X-Men. "Whatever's wrong with her, we'll handle it."

"You can't help her, Jean," Rogue stated coldly, thinking but refraining from projecting, 'Unlike when you just _didn't_ help me.'

"Give me the child, Rogue," Jean demanded, her voice rising. "You're not a doctor."

"And _you're_ not a pediatrician _or_ an oncologist, so leave us alone," Rogue snapped.

Pietro must not have liked Jean's tone, because while Rogue was speaking, he had suddenly placed himself between her and Jean. Wanda, Remy and Avalanche followed suit, forming a loose semi circle in front of and around her. Jean visibly tensed, but the Brotherhood simply waited defensively, and Scott and Storm remained alert but calm.

"She has cancer?" Storm asked after a moment, compassionate sadness tingeing her regal voice when Rogue's words sank in.

"Yes, Hannah's in the end stages," Rogue answered, some of her anger waning as her attention was moved away from Jean. "They've had her here for a long time but never cared much about her health. Even if she were to get treatment now it wouldn't help anything. It has spread too far, and she's not expected to live out the week. I have pain medication they were using to keep her quiet. I'll be altering the dose so she can be aware but out of pain. I… I took the doctor's knowledge so I can take care of her."

"Is he dead?" Jean once more interjected.

Rogue glared at her, "I took his knowledge, _not_ his life. I may have broken his jaw though. I knocked him out when I learned what he thought of 'wasting' his medical degree caring for mutants."

"I don't blame you," Scott remarked darkly.

Rogue glanced Piotr's way, seeing him nod his agreement with Scott's assessment. Piotr's gaze was steady on Hannah. But Jean was obviously not placated. Rogue could feel the older woman trying to probe her mind. Rogue forcefully showed Jean all the pain and degradation she had picked up from Hannah before slamming her mental shields firmly back into place.

"Try that again and I'll show you worse," Rogue growled. "I've told you before that I have enough people in my head without having to worry about you poking around."

Of course, the truth was that it didn't matter if she had _no _people in her head, she never wanted Jean there again. A small, weak tug on the front of her uniform brought her gaze down to Hannah's small form. She smiled soothingly at her, not wanting worry to overwhelm the girl. Although she assured the child silently that she could still communicate mind to mind with her, Rogue spoke aloud to Hannah so Jean would be less inclined to try to listen in telepathically, at least to Rogue's side of the conversation.

"What is it, Hannah?"

Let her look into my mind, then she'll know there's nothing she can do, Hannah thought to Rogue.

Rogue tightened her hold momentarily. She had the girl in her head, but even without that she still would have felt protective of the child. Something about Hannah had struck a chord in Rogue the moment they had met, and she knew Hannah felt it too even before their exchange of memories. Hannah wanted nothing more than to spend her last few days with Rogue. If that hadn't been the case, Rogue would have gladly handed the child over to the X-Men for care; she only wanted what was best for Hannah. But right now she was afraid they… or at least Jean… wouldn't give her a choice.

"Hannah has given permission for you to enter her mind so you will see this is what she wants," Rogue grudgingly told Jean.

The telekinetic telepath took on the squinty look of concentration she wore when using her abilities. This lasted less than a minute. When she was done, Jean did not say anything, simply frowning a bit more deeply. Rogue sighed internally. Why was it that Jean could never make things easier on her?

Piotr moved to Rogue's side, unhindered by the loose but protective wall the Brotherhood had formed between Rogue and Jean. He might not be part of their team, had in fact eagerly left their group at the first chance, but Pietro and the others knew where Piotr's loyalty lie if forced to choose between the X-Men and Rogue. When Piotr reached her, he gave Rogue's shoulder a gentle squeeze before looking down at Hannah. A tired smile graced the smaller features when Piotr smiled down at Hannah and ran a large but gentle hand over the girl's wispy blonde hair. Because of their transfer, Hannah knew as much about Piotr as Rogue did.

Piotr looked up and across at Scott, "I'm going with Rogue. I'll be back at the school before my Monday morning class."

Scott nodded his understanding, but Jean demanded, "What? Why?"

"She'll need help with Hannah," Piotr answered simply. Lower for just Rogue to hear, he added, "She reminds me of Illyana."

Rogue smiled softly, knowing how much Piotr missed his younger sister. But Jean wasn't satisfied.

"You can't just switch sides every time you feel like it," she said to Piotr, voice raised to nearly a yell. "You assured the Professor that it was your desire to leave the Brotherhood…"

"Merde," Remy interrupted colorfully. "De homme just helping out Rogue, and de chere ain't Brotherhood. Dis ain't even a Brotherhood mission; Gambit certainly not gettin' paid."

Jean frowned but didn't contradict Remy, which Rogue found a bit odd but put off as part of the Cajun's charm mutation.

Avalanche snorted his agreement to Remy's statement. "If Magneto was behind this and not just a simple attempt to free fellow mutants, don't you think we'd be recruiting them and not allowing all of them to go with you? Don't you think we would have fought you the moment you showed up? Rogue feels a connection with the girl, and the girl wants to spend her last days with Rogue. I don't see how that's any of your concern."

"I'm a doctor," Jean stated again, irritably.

She didn't concede Avalanche's other points, but she didn't argue against them either. Rogue could only be relieved.

"Let's go," Rogue said to her housemates when she felt Hannah's strength suddenly waning again, somehow sure that Scott would stop the rest of his team from delaying them any further if they had been so inclined.

Rogue moved away toward where the two SUVs they had come in were parked, the others following after her, though Avalanche and Pietro didn't once turn their backs on the X-Men until they were completely out of sight.

"Do you want me to carry her?" Piotr asked as they walked.

Hannah's hand tightened on Rogue's uniform again, but Rogue was already shaking her head in the negative.

"Thanks, Piotr, but I'm not exactly going to get tired carrying her."

Piotr's mouth quirked, and Rogue knew he had forgotten again how strong she was. Next to him she was small and fragile looking, and because he was protective of her, he tended to also think of her as actually _needing _protection when the truth was she could take him in a fight and barely break a sweat.

The journey back to the House passed in silence, Hannah falling asleep in Rogue's arms mere minutes after they began the drive. Rogue, Hannah and Piotr rode with Pietro and Wanda, arriving home shortly after Avalanche and Remy, Avalanche having already headed for bed as he had an early meeting with a client in the morning. After helping get Hannah situated in Rogue's bed… Rogue not wanting the child's last days to be spent in the medical room that looked so similar to a lab… and promising to check in occasionally, the others left Rogue and Piotr with Hannah.

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Far enough down the hall that they were out of range of even Rogue's hearing, Remy turned to Wanda and Pietro.

"Dis is going to destroy de femme, non? Perhaps it would have been better to send de girl with de X-Men. Gambit t'ink we should before she pass on."

Wanda's eyes narrowed, and before Remy had time to blink, Pietro had shoved him roughly against the wall, pinning the taller man there, Pietro's forearm resting firmly against his neck.

"You say anything like that within Rogue's hearing and I will personally hex you into the next century," Wanda hissed.

Remy made a mental note that this would certainly be an interesting addition to his next report and stayed still, knowing how volatile the Scarlet Witch's temper could be. Remy had known Wanda and Rogue had been getting steadily closer since the younger woman had first started living with them and that Pietro had been added to that camaraderie several months back, but he hadn't realized that the connection was deep enough for both twins to be so protective of Rogue. Pietro gave him an extra, warning push before letting go. Remy rotated his shoulders to resettle his mussed clothing but stayed where he was.

"Don't _ever_ imply that one of _them_ would be better able to handle an emotional situation than she would," Pietro ordered. "Or have you forgotten that they turned Mystique and Rogue away when she needed help the most?"

"Non, Gambit not goin' to be forgettin' that ever. Gambit jus' tryin' to protect the chere."

"Leave that to those of us who care about her beyond trying to get in her pants," Pietro bit off.

Remy's eyes narrowed before he relaxed, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Sure t'ing, mes amis."

He turned to head to his own room in the opposite wing of the house, feeling the twins' eyes burrowing between his shoulder blades the whole time he remained in view of them and even for a short time after he was out of sight. A very interesting addition to his reports, indeed.

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Charles Xavier leaned back and steepled his fingers, his elbows resting on the arms of his wheelchair. He was silent for several minutes, going over all that had been covered in the debriefing that had just ended, as well as what he had learned from the few new arrivals he had spoken with so far. He turned his attention to the minds of the three physically present members of his four-member X-Men team, sitting on the other side of his desk from him in his office.

Scott and Storm were perfectly content with the ways things had turned out, though Storm was still dealing with the fact that they had come up 'against' the Brotherhood and hadn't had to fight them. Jean, on the other hand, was much more conflicted. Her continuing distrust of what could happen with Rogue not being 'on their side' was clouding her judgment again. Xavier was unsure what to do or say about the problem.

If he pushed Jean about letting go of her trust issues when it came to Rogue, Jean might view it as an attack. Because of his concern and friendship for Rogue and his easy acceptance of the younger woman's situation, she already felt that Scott was against her when it came to that subject. Jean didn't like to be cornered, and Xavier grudgingly admitted to himself that it would be in everyone's best interest if he simply continued to ignore her attempts to turn the subject of Rogue into an argument.

When it came to what had happened on the mission, Jean was confused. The Brotherhood had done all the work of freeing the captive mutants, and yet they had let the freed mutants go with the X-Men without any fuss. All except for this young girl, Hannah, who was of absolutely no strategic value. And instead of immediately attacking the X-Men as had happened every time the older members of the Brotherhood (none of whom had been there, of course) had come in contact with them, the younger team members had been on the defensive the whole time, being especially protective of Rogue and her young charge. Jean was having trouble believing that the Brotherhood actually feared an attack from the X-Men, but Xavier knew it was an unfortunate truth. The fact that Piotr had once again 'abandoned' them when Rogue needed him was also adding to Jean's turmoil.

It was the young mutant girl, as well as the effect her death would undoubtedly have on Rogue, that Xavier was worried about. Xavier had no doubt that Rogue had been genuine in wanting to care for the child, but did that necessarily mean she should? Jean was convinced that being with Rogue was the worst possible thing that could happen to the child, and yet Scott and Storm didn't seem worried about it. However, Jean _was_ the only one of them with medical knowledge.

"Jean," he asked, "what do you think about this girl that Rogue kept, this Hannah?"

"I don't think we should have let Rogue leave with her," Jean answered. "Rogue has no medical training or experience, and no tie to the child that would authorize her to make life and death decisions for her."

"That isn't what I asked, Jean," he gently reminded her.

Jean frowned but nodded, responding, "From the things in her mind that the lab doctor had said around her and the things she experienced at his hands as 'treatment,' the few days Rogue told us she has is a generous projection. She's in the end stages of cancer, which started with leukemia as far as I could tell and ravaged her entire body unchecked. She wasn't diagnosed until very recently and even then the doctor didn't do anything that would have made a difference. The people in charge of the lab didn't find her important or powerful enough to waste time or resources trying to save her. The last couple weeks were very fuzzy in her mind, I believe it means they'd been keeping her sedated."

"So there is nothing you could do to save her life?" Xavier asked for clarification.

Jean shook her head, "There's nothing anyone could do."

"Very well. I see no reason to interfere in Rogue's guardianship of her, then. With Rogue, Hannah will have the individual attention we can't provide." Considering the subject now closed, Xavier moved on, "Storm, if you could start the room arrangements for our new houseguests, Scott and I will continue interviewing the rest of the group. Jean, I'm sure you can handle letting the students know about the new arrivals and keeping an eye on them while we are occupied."

Assigned duties and dismissed, Storm and Jean left the office to go about their day. Scott stood and followed Xavier to the elevator to go back down to the medical ward where the new arrivals were waiting. The younger ones who had no family to go back to, or family that didn't want them back, would be offered a place at the school. The adults would be interviewed to see if they had the potential to make a contribution to the School, or to the X-Men. Those that didn't would be given cab fare to an agency Xavier had ties to that would help them get a new start or assist them in returning to their old lives.

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Hannah's projected few days ended up being nine, but it still wasn't long enough for Rogue. Even without the sedatives her captors had been pumping her full of, Hannah slept on and off for long periods of time, and Rogue found herself maintaining an open psychic connection between them so she could occasionally sleep and still wake instantly when Hannah did. Wanda and Pietro gladly took over duties at Darkholme full-time, one of them making sure to be at Rogue's beck and call every moment that Piotr was not there to help, which was only when he had to be at the School to teach his classes when the week began again.

Rogue was reluctant to leave Hannah's side for even as long as it took to take a shower, and there were things Hannah needed that someone had to physically go out and get. When he had stuttered with nervousness at the mere thought of trying to buy clothes for a young girl, Pietro had been appointed buyer-of-other-things, in charge of getting more medical supplies as Rogue needed them and other items of a non-personal nature. Some of those items were children's story books and DVDs of kid's movies. Rogue knew from Hannah's memories that some of her brightest moments had been when she was housed with other mutants and they'd tell her stories to keep her mind, or theirs, occupied. Hannah loved hearing about everything and anything.

Wanda bought clothes and things of that nature with the credit cards Rogue handed over. She confided in Rogue that she had always longed for a little sister and that she had fun picking out the softest and prettiest nightgowns and pajama sets, even knowing they were the only type of clothes Hannah would ever need. Rogue had looked so sad for a moment that Wanda was sure she was about to cry, but Rogue simply swallowed hard and thanked Wanda once again for everything she and Pietro were doing for her and the little girl.

It was Sunday afternoon and Piotr was reading Hannah "Alice in Wonderland" when Rogue decided to call her lawyer and get the necessary actions started to legally adopt Hannah. The little girl was hers now, and would be until she passed from the world. Why not make it legal? When the man hinted that a generous bribe would allow the paperwork to be pushed through much faster by a judge he knew, Rogue easily agreed, barely managing to swallow a gasp at the sum he mentioned. When she authorized the transfer of funds, the lawyer told her that Hannah would legally be Marie Darkholme's daughter by Monday evening.

It struck her as an odd kind of symmetry that she herself had been adopted and was now adopting a child of her own. The thought reminded her of the fact that she hadn't told Mystique about Hannah yet. Rogue had been too caught up in the situation to even think about it, and she hadn't been due to call Mystique until a few days from now. For whatever reason, Pietro must not have included Hannah in his report about the mission, because Rogue knew if he had, he would have told her whatever Mystique said about it. Rogue decided to wait until their scheduled call to tell the shapeshifter about everything that had happened. She wasn't sure she knew how to put what she felt into words, and she was also wary of Mystique's reaction to the news.

Having taken care of the call to the lawyer in Mystique's office, Rogue didn't mention it to Piotr or Hannah, not wanting Hannah to become excited at the prospect in case something went wrong. A small part of her was also afraid that this wasn't something Hannah would truly want. That while it was okay to be part of Rogue's life for the few days she had left, she didn't want to belong to Rogue, so to speak. The relationship of parent and child was one of the most intimate in the world, and Rogue just wasn't sure she was what Hannah, or anyone else for that matter, would want in a mother.

To Rogue's surprise, about an hour after Piotr had shown up Monday afternoon, she and Hannah got some more visitors. There was a perfunctory knock on the already open door, and Rogue looked up from the book she had been reading to Hannah. She smiled gently at Pietro standing there. He smiled back, but the gesture was tense. When he moved into the room to be followed by three people, she understood why. Scott Summers had brought Decipher and Conchita to the Brotherhood House. Rogue had a brief moment of whimsy when she wondered if this was one of the signs of the apocalypse.

Pietro parked himself against the wall beside the door, and Rogue knew better than to tell him it would be okay for him to leave them. The fact that he had even let Scott into the House said a lot about what she had come to mean to him, and Rogue wasn't going to make light of his generosity by pushing its limits. She was just glad it was Wanda's night to be at Darkholme, otherwise there would have been a scheduling hassle and an already tense situation could have become much worse.

Unsure how to greet Scott, or even what to think of his coming here this way, Rogue was saved from having to react to it by Decipher and Conchita. The twins greeted Pietro and Piotr briefly before moving closer to Hannah and Rogue. Rogue felt a flash of happiness from Hannah at seeing the teenagers. They had been the last cell mates she'd had before her deteriorating condition had made a permanent move to the medical room necessary.

Conchita greeted Rogue first, the friendly, open girl giving a somewhat startled Rogue a quick hug. Decipher settled for a wave and smile, looking slightly embarrassed at his sister's display. Both boy and girl sat on the edge of Rogue's large bed, being careful not to jostle Hannah. They immediately launched into a description of their new lives at Xavier's School, Rogue once in awhile relaying questions from Hannah.

Rogue still kept the connection between she, Piotr and Hannah open, but she wasn't sure she could do it for the whole room, or even if everyone else would want her to. Not everyone in the room was familiar with everyone else, and some, if not outright enemies, were at the very least _not _friends. Eventually the adults took their cue from the children and relaxed, with the possible exception of Pietro. Scott, for his part, seemed content to silently observe.

A couple hours later, when the group was watching a movie Hannah had picked out, there was once more a light knock on the open door. Remy was standing in the door, a man in a dark business suit behind him. It was Mr. Jenkins, Rogue's lawyer. Rogue was up off the bed and halfway across the room quickly, but not quickly enough to stop Jenkins from making his announcement.

"Congratulations," he said as he held a manila envelope toward her. "Hannah Darkholme is now legally your daughter."

At least a couple of the people present gasped, but it was the soft, barely audible, "Mommy?" that came from Hannah that hit Rogue like a physical blow. It was the only time Hannah had ever spoken aloud. To her, there was no one in the room in that moment but her and Hannah. Taking the envelope from Jenkins's outstretched hand, she was back at Hannah's side with a speed Pietro would have been proud of.

'If this isn't what you want…' she thought directly to Hannah.

It is. Hannah's response was simple and heartfelt, made even clearer by the fact that she mentally asked Rogue for a hug, never having done that before.

Rogue gently put her arms around her newly adopted daughter, taking the utmost care in cradling Hannah's fragile body against her. Her heart clenched, full of joy and pain at the same time. Even without the use of her enhanced senses, Rogue knew Hannah was living on borrowed time. Hannah was frail and almost painfully thin, her heart struggling to complete each beat within her chest. Rogue had her daughter, a child who she loved and who loved her, but each moment they had together was one stolen from the hands of Death. And when their stolen moments ran out, Rogue would be alone again.

It was at that moment that the presences of the other people in the room once more touched her mind, and Rogue looked up and into Piotr's calm, deep blue eyes. No, she wasn't alone. There were people who loved her, and who would be there for her when she needed them. It wouldn't make the pain of losing Hannah any less sharp, but it would aid her recovery from, and acceptance of, the loss. Having heard the thoughts she had shielded from Hannah but not him, Piotr smiled sadly yet reassuringly at Rogue before congratulating both she and Hannah through their open link.

That night, after their guests left and it was once more just the two of them and Piotr, Hannah asked Rogue to tell her the story of how she had met the X-Men and ended up where she was.

Rogue hesitated, telling her, "I don't want it to give you nightmares, sweetie."

Mommy, I already know what happened and it hasn't given me any, Hannah reminded her gently. I just want to hear you tell the story.

Pushing aside the thrill she got from Hannah calling her that, Rogue began the story with the moment her last hitched ride, a congenial man who would have needed a fake beard but no padding to play a mall Santa, had let her out at Laughlin City. To the astonishment of all three, as she spoke a "window" about three feet on each side appeared over the bed, showing the things Rogue described. As she narrated the tale, Rogue was oddly grateful when Logan started inputting information as well, letting her see that his need to get to her as soon as possible after he'd woken from her touch the first time had led to his first stealing of Scott's motorcycle, and how terrified he had been on the train when he finally realized that Xavier had been wrong, that it was her Magneto was after and not him.

His frustration at not being able to do anything to stop Magneto from taking her because of the adamantium coating his skeleton was palpable in her mind, though the telling of that aspect of the story was toned down a bit. Though Rogue had known he had almost given his life to revive her, seeing all the things he had gone through right before that humbled her. It gave her a hope she'd not had before that maybe he did care for her in the way that she cared about him. The Logan in her head had previously hedged around the fact that that was the case, but Rogue had never truly been able to believe him, knowing his perspective on things, much like Erik's, had altered because of being a part of her.

The two of them had stayed silent in her mind from the time she'd met Hannah, recognizing that as she was already testing the limits of her telepathic abilities keeping the link between she and Hannah, and often Piotr as well, constantly open. Rogue didn't need any distractions in her head while she was dealing with her current situation.

On Wednesday afternoon, right after placing an order for a special stuffed animal for Hannah… a wolf… having just discovered while browsing Amazon's kids movies section that they had a partnership with Toys R Us, Rogue's attention was suddenly captured by indistinct male voices yelling. With the Brotherhood members all out on various errands and Piotr not being due until school ended in another couple hours, she had no idea who it could be. Glancing at Hannah's peacefully napping form, Rogue got up carefully from her spot on the bed beside Hannah to walk to the window that overlooked the grounds to the rear of the House.

Automatically scanning what she could of the perimeter first, Rogue didn't see anything until her gaze drifted closer to the House. Avalanche was near the rear of the garage, angrily pointing away from the House but facing around the corner of the garage, the direction someone would come to enter the House through the rear door. He back-stepped a few paces, the person he was arguing with coming into view. It was Victor Creed, Sabretooth, and he didn't appear to care that Avalanche was getting angry. With one taloned hand he pushed aside the younger, shorter man.

Rogue held her breath as Avalanche got visibly angrier, sending a mini tremor into the ground under Sabretooth's feet. In the moments that the feral mutant was making sure he kept his footing, Avalanche moved once more between Sabretooth and the entrance to the House, one palm outward in a 'stop' motion. Sabretooth twisted his mouth in what Rogue knew had to be a snarl, grabbing Avalanche by the front of his shirt and pulling him close in warning. Things were deteriorating quickly.

Darting a glance at her daughter's sleeping form, Rogue worried her lower lip with her teeth. There was no one to watch Hannah, but there was also no one to help Avalanche and stop Sabretooth. Coming to a decision quickly, Rogue pushed aside her guilt for a moment. She made her way back to her spot on the bed. Rogue gently, but with intent, touched Hannah's mind with her own. She was pleased when Hannah came to the state between awake and asleep instead of fully waking.

Sweetie, I have to go help Avalanche for a few minutes, she relayed. If you need me at all, just call out to me with your mind and I'll come back, alright?

Though a moment of panic surfaced in Hannah's mind, she calmed when Rogue accidentally let her worried thoughts about what Sabretooth might be doing to Avalanche slip through. Assuring her adoptive mother that she'd be fine while Rogue took care of their unwanted guest, Hannah slipped almost all the way back to sleep. Still anxious about leaving Hannah for any length of time, especially alone, Rogue took a short cut by opening her window and flying down to the yard.

Just in time to see Sabretooth leap at Avalanche from the unstable ground that was a lasting signature of Avalanche using his ability. She wasn't fast enough to stop Sabretooth from roughly grabbing the other mutant and tossing him twenty feet away. Rogue took vague note of the fact that Avalanche did not move from where he landed in a crumpled heap, but most of her attention was focused on the feral mutant in front of her. Sabretooth might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was cunning in a vicious, instinctual way.

The tall, shaggy blonde, for his part, was taking in her appearance with a speculative gleam. In jeans and a t-shirt with opera length gloves and sock-encased feet, she probably didn't come across as much of a threat. His eyes fastened with intent just below her neckline and Rogue had a moment of utter disgust at the thought of him lusting after her, and then he spoke.

"So that's where the runt left it," he growled. It took Rogue a second to realize he meant the tag around her neck and that the 'runt' was Logan. Right after that came the knowledge that if Sabretooth had been wondering about the tag's location, it meant he had seen Logan since after the events at the Statue of Liberty. Sabretooth continued, "Must be a way around that skin of yours if the Wolverine has chosen you as his woman."

Rogue had no intention of trying to explain the complexities of she and Logan's relationship, or lack thereof, so she ignored what Sabretooth had said, asking, "What do you want, Victor? Mystique said you don't like to stay here, and Magneto's still in prison."

Sabretooth's black eyes narrowed at her use of his real first name, and he snarled, "Me? What are _you_ doin' here, girlie? Lookin' for a little revenge?"

Rogue glared at him. "Just leave, Sabretooth." She peeled her gloves off, dropping them unheeded on the lawn. "While you still can."

Sabretooth laughed, a rough sound that had Rogue wishing her hearing wasn't so sensitive. "Quite the little hellcat, aren't ya? No wonder the runt picked you. He always did like a challenge."

Rogue's frown deepened. The way he kept talking about Logan made it obvious that he had known the other man before their fight on the Statue of Liberty. Was it possible he knew something that could help Logan remember his past? Sabretooth took advantage of her distraction and charged forward, swiping at her with one massive hand. Luckily she was smaller and faster, and she was able to dodge the reach of his thick, dark colored talons.

Lifting off the ground she moved a bit further out from the house, in the opposite direction of Avalanche's still-unconscious body. Sabretooth followed her with narrowed eyes, seemingly judging the distance between her and the ground. She almost laughed at the image of him jumping for her the way a cat does for its favorite toy. Rogue decided she was a safe distance from her housemate and landed lightly, lamenting her lack of weapons. She really wasn't looking forward to touching the blonde giant.

"Time to play, girlie," he growled as he charged toward her.

Though he was the one that moved into range, he waited for her to attack first this time, and Rogue got the distinct impression that, like his words inferred, this really was mostly a game to him. Preferring to keep out of arm's reach as much as possible, Rogue kicked out suddenly, catching Sabretooth by surprise. The sound of his bone snapping as her socked foot made contact with his shin surprised him but not her. A low growl emanated from Sabretooth's throat as he considered her with new eyes.

"Just how many people have you been touchin'?" he asked, referring to her flight as well as her super strength, things she'd definitely been lacking when she'd been a captive of his master.

"Enough," she answered succinctly.

The large man shifted his weight, showing Rogue that the break had already at least mostly healed. She knew if she wanted to get back to Hannah anytime soon, she was going to have to take more drastic action. Rogue went straight for him this time, clamping both hands on either side of his face before he had time to move. She concentrated on white and green, hoping to get enough of his memories in the time it took to weaken him so she could help Logan. Sabretooth sinking the nails of one hand into her upper arm as he wrapped the other arm around her ribs tightly, trying to crush her, brought her attention to the fact that there was metal in him.

His forearms appeared to have localized bands of adamantium in them. Two thoughts floated through her mind at the same time. One, was this why he had been working for Magneto? Had the metal manipulator been forcing Sabretooth's cooperation? And two, did Sabretooth get the metal in his body from the same people who'd cut Logan open? Was that where he had known him from before? She harbored no illusions that Sabretooth was anything like Logan in the ways that counted, however, and her acknowledgment of that fact deepened as she felt the blood running in rivulets down her arm from where his nails continued to sink deeper into her flesh.

Tapping into Erik's power, she forced Sabretooth's arms away from her body enough that he couldn't touch her. But the diverting of her concentration resulted in her skin snapping to full power, drawing in more of him than she had intended. Pulling her hands away roughly, she stumbled away from him as he keeled over on the lawn.

Rogue panted as the healing factor she'd gotten from Logan was joined by Sabretooth's to instantaneously heal the wounds in her arm and the bruises on her torso. The life energy she'd sapped from Sabretooth worked to balance the effect of the blood she'd lost. She watched in horror as her nails got longer and thicker, though nowhere near Sabretooth's. She could feel an odd tingle on her scalp and in her eyes, and she knew her body was adapting his physical mutations to her own body. Rogue grimaced as several of her teeth sharpened.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on isolating Sabretooth in her head. The psychic echo of the feral mutant growled at her. Knowing the pain and discomfort she had just gone through would be for nothing if she didn't get what she'd been after, Rogue focused on separating his memories from the other aspects of him. She'd almost managed to accomplish her goal when a voice broke her concentration.

Mommy?

Hannah's astral voice was more curious than worried, but it was enough to bring Rogue back to the present. Slamming the Sabretooth in her head into a cage like the one she'd once kept the imprint of Jean Grey in, Rogue opened her eyes to find Avalanche limping toward her, the young man keeping a healthy distance between himself and Sabretooth's still inert form.

I'll be back as soon as I can, Hannah.

"You okay?" she asked aloud as Avalanche approached.

Avalanche frowned at her oddly, but Rogue took no offense, knowing he'd never seen her take on the physical aspect of another person's mutations before.

"I wrenched my knee and hit my head when he tossed me, but other than that I'm fine."

Right then Sabretooth groaned, drawing the gazes of both of them. He staggered to his feet, shaking off the effect of her touch. Rogue threw one arm forward, lifting Sabretooth by the metal she now knew was in his arms.

"Are you going to leave if I let you down?" she asked him, a bit of a growl in her voice.

Sabretooth glared at her for a long, silent minute before nodding curtly. She dropped him without ceremony. He landed heavily on his feet.

"This ain't over, girlie," he warned before turning to head for the back of the property.

Rogue and Avalanche watched until he was out of sight. When she was satisfied that Sabretooth was indeed leaving, Rogue turned to Avalanche and asked to borrow one of the coveralls he kept in the garage. She didn't want Hannah seeing the blood that stained the clothes she was wearing. Avalanche led her to where they were kept, turning away to give her privacy as she changed.

"What did he want, anyway?" she asked as she peeled off her clothes, using a clean rag to wash the blood from her skin before putting on the coverall.

Avalanche shrugged expressively, "Who knows. All he would say was that he was hungry. But you know what happens when you feed a feral animal, they just keep coming back for more."

Rogue laughed lightly, thanking Avalanche for the change of clothes and tossing the blood soaked set of her own clothes in a trashcan. As she moved to head into the house, Avalanche stopped her with a light touch on her sleeve-covered arm.

"Thanks, for out there," he said. "I know you had to leave Hannah alone to help me."

"You're welcome," she replied lightly.

As Rogue moved through the house alone, she remembered that she didn't look completely like herself. Approaching a mirrored panel in one wall, Rogue took a glimpse at her refection and bit her lip with teeth much more pointed than they used to be. She sighed heavily. It was going to take time to focus enough to get rid of these changes, and she had already been away from Hannah much longer than she had intended. Bracing herself for the potential reaction of fear from her daughter, Rogue moved more quickly through the house to her room. She drew a deep breath before entering the room.

Hannah was awake and watching the door. Rogue held her breath as she waited for the child's reaction. Wide brown eyes locked on her own temporarily black ones before skimming over the other changes in her physical appearance. Rogue's hands began to curl into fists, a nervous habit, but she had to stop when her lengthened nails threatened to cut into her palms.

You look funny, Mommy. Hannah's psychic voice was tinged with amusement, and Rogue breathed a sigh of relief.

Thanks, sweetie, she responded dryly.

With a wry smile, Rogue set about making sure Hannah was completely comfortable and had everything she wanted before sitting in the chair next to the bed to try to get Sabretooth out of her head and his mutation out of her body. When she was done, she changed into her ownclothes, setting the coverall aside to give back to Avalanche later.

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"We really should find a way to make him stop doing this," Jean remarked to Xavier and Scott.

The three of them had just watched Piotr leave the school directly after his last class of the day. He was even now walking down the front drive of the school to be picked up just outside the property by one of the inhabitants of the Brotherhood House, who would take him to stay with Rogue and Hannah before bringing him back in the morning with just enough time to get to his first class. It had been that way every weekday since the mission.

Surprisingly, it was Xavier and not Scott who asked in a censorious tone, "Stop him from doing what exactly?"

"Running off to be with _her_ every spare minute of the day," Jean replied, frustration clear in her voice. "We need to make him choose who his loyalty is to, the X-Men or the Brotherhood. He's neglecting…"

"He is neglecting nothing," Xavier interrupted her. "He is here for every one of his classes, though truth be told I would have cancelled them for a week if he had asked, and we have had no missions." Jean opened her mouth, but Xavier forestalled her retort with a silencing gesture. "And even if we had, the X-Men got by without Piotr before and could do so again if necessary. And Jean, there will be no forcing of a choice. There is no doubt in my mind that there isn't one to make. Piotr was never loyal to the Brotherhood, but he would side with Rogue against nearly anyone, the only possible exception being his own family."

"And that doesn't worry you?" Jean asked.

"Not at all," Xavier calmly replied. "I want nothing done or said to Rogue or Piotr that would give Rogue reason to mistrust us more than she does. It is still my hope that she will be a valuable asset to the X-Men if Magneto is ever freed, and she is forced to leave the Brotherhood House."

This seemed to shock Jean, though Scott had known about Xavier's desire that Rogue return to the fold at some point for quite some time. She got over her surprise rather quickly though.

"If that's the case, why not offer something she wants to get her to come back here? We can bring the girl here, give her the best medical treatment she can get in her last days…"

"No," Scott answered for Xavier. "Bribing or tricking her into coming here won't work. Rogue has to _choose_ to become an X-Man. And Rogue knows enough to keep Hannah comfortable. There is nothing you could do for her that Rogue can't. In fact, Rogue can do more, because she loves Hannah, and to you, no matter how well intentioned you might be, she would just be another patient."

He left off her adoption of the girl, knowing that even if his assurances weren't enough to calm the situation, Rogue still had legal options for keeping her child away from Xavier and Jean. There were ways Xavier could get around it, Scott was sure, so the longer he and Jean didn't know that little detail, the better for Rogue and Hannah.

Jean stared at Scott for a minute before saying, "You went to see her."

Scott nodded, "I wanted to be sure Rogue knew what she was getting into and Pietro Maximoff was kind enough to let me in the House, though he did escort me the entire time I was there." Xavier smiled in amusement at this, but Jean just continued to stare at Scott as if she had never seen him before. "When the time comes, I'll be going to the funeral as well."

"I suppose we all should," Jean murmured finally. "If overt overtures are not allowed, we may as well make smaller ones."

"No," Xavier corrected. "Scott will go, and perhaps myself, but Rogue knows you don't care about her or the child. There is no reason for you to go, in fact I rather believe it would cause a scene, and the child deserves nothing but respect at her funeral."

"Fine," Jean said coldly, turning away from the two men.

"She _really_ doesn't like Rogue," Scott observed when Jean was out of the room. "Are you sure they'll even be _able_ to work on the same team?"

Xavier frowned, but answered, "Piotr is not fond of Jean because of her actions toward Rogue, but he is able to set that aside when he needs to. Hopefully Jean will be able to do the same when the time comes."

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The night before Hannah's last day on earth, Hannah and Piotr had to convince Rogue to bring the girl to a hospital. Hannah was physically unconscious at the time, but she had managed to still be able to communicate with Rogue telepathically on the connection Rogue had never shut down once since they'd met. Piotr was privy to their mental conversations when he was with them, Rogue finding it easier to keep him in the telepathic loop than having to repeat everything she and Hannah discussed.

You need to let me go, Mommy.

Hannah had been significantly weaker the last twenty-four hours leading up to Saturday night. Even her thoughts were quieter, more subdued than they had been.

I can't, Hannah, Rogue answered sorrowfully. Don't ask me to do it before I have to.

For me? Hannah pressed. I don't want to die in this room. I want your memories of me here to be happy. If I die here, that's all you'll remember. And I can't still be in your head when I go. I don't want it to hurt you.

Rogue's breath caught in her throat at the thought of no longer being connected to the little girl she had adopted, and she was on the verge of arguing when Piotr wrapped his arms around her.

"Hannah's right," he told her aloud when her eyes sought his. "You have to sever the connection or she won't be able to go peacefully because she'll be fighting it, worrying about hurting you unintentionally."

Tears welled in Rogue's eyes, but she blinked them back, momentarily burying her face in Piotr's chest. Piotr tightened his hold slightly but otherwise did nothing, letting Rogue come to grips with this new pain on her own.

When she pulled away, Rogue conceded, Okay, I'll break the connection in a few minutes. But Hannah, we don't have to take you to a hospital. There are other rooms here we can move you to.

No, Mommy, the girl's psyche was gentle but firm in her insistence.

It was left to Piotr to point out the practicalities of the situation. "It will be easier if she's already been admitted to the hospital when she goes, Marie. Not only so that you will not associate the memory of her death with this house and so that she is as comfortable as possible when she goes, but from a legal standpoint as well. The less complications there are to deal with, the smoother everything will go… after."

"Alright," Rogue finally relented in a defeated tone.

Getting ready to go to the hospital was accomplished with a minimum of fuss, Rogue changing Hannah into fresh underthings and her softest nightgown, having become quite good at undressing and dressing the too-weak-to-help child in their time together. Rogue wrapped Hannah in her favorite blanket for the trip, but Hannah refused any of her stuffed animals or other things, wanting nothing more than Rogue's presence.

While Rogue was getting Hannah ready, Piotr went to Wanda and Pietro and asked that they pack up Hannah's things once he, Rogue and Hannah had left. Rogue would be keeping the stuffed wolf that Hannah had been so fond of as well as a couple of the books and movies Rogue had bought for her, but the rest would be donated to a children's charity. It had been Hannah's idea to share everything she had been blessed with in her last days with other kids who had as little as she had for most of her life. And Piotr knew there was only so much Rogue was going to be able to handle in the days to come.

Wanda and Pietro wanted to be there with Rogue to support her, but they knew that this was just as important to what Rogue would be facing. They would both be there for her when she needed them, and they knew she knew that. So doing this was the best thing they could do right now.

Despite what she had told Hannah about severing the psychic link between them within a few minutes, it wasn't until Rogue was absolutely sure Hannah was comfortable in the hospital bed she had been assigned that she actually did so.

Too weak to open her eyes, let alone talk, Hannah sent Rogue one last message before the connection was closed. I love you, Mommy. Thank you for loving me enough to make me yours.

I love you, too, Hannah.

Rogue immediately felt hollow without Hannah's presence in her head, but she pushed it aside to deal with later. Despite half-hearted protests from nurses, Rogue climbed into the bed with Hannah, lying beside the girl and clasping one small, thin hand in her gloved ones, needing the physical connection now that she could no longer have the telepathic one. Piotr stood as close as he could to the edge of the bed behind her, gently stroking her hair.

Six and a half hours later, early Sunday morning, Hannah slipped silently away in her sleep. The nurse came in to turn off the blare of the flat-lined heart monitor, marking down the time of death before leaving the room to allow Rogue and Piotr to say their good-byes, most likely under the impression from his presence and obvious caring for the young woman and her child that Piotr was Hannah's father.

Piotr kissed Hannah's forehead and whispered good-bye in Russian, turning to move toward the door. He intended to wait just outside so that Rogue could have a minute alone with her daughter, but as he made to move away from her, Rogue grabbed onto his arm. When Rogue had shut down the connection between herself and Hannah, she had also closed it between herself and Piotr. He wasn't sure what she was thinking or feeling beyond the pain of her daughter's death. So he stilled and waited.

Rogue pressed two soft kisses on the little girls' body, one on her forehead where Piotr had kissed her, and one on the curve of her cheek. Her hand in Piotr's, Rogue got up and left the room, walking slowly toward the nurses' station in order to fill out whatever paperwork would be necessary.

When Piotr asked her quietly if she was sure she didn't need more time with the girl, Rogue simply answered, "It's not Hannah anymore. We already said our good-byes."

Inside, Rogue was holding on to the slightest hint of control with all her will. She knew there were things that needed to be done. Papers to fill out and sign, arrangements to be made. If she stopped to grieve now, she didn't know how she would get through any of it.

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The Brotherhood rode in one vehicle to the cemetery while Piotr drove Rogue in another directly behind the hearse. Rogue had opted for a simple funeral at the gravesite, one in a section of the local cemetery that was specifically set aside for children. She had at first been hesitant to lay Hannah in the ground where she could not eventually be close to her, but then she had reminded herself once more that what was left behind was not truly Hannah. Rogue had been raised vaguely Christian before her father had kicked her out at the age of twelve, and Erik, of course, had been raised Jewish, so more than one part of her believed that there was something after, something better, and she and Hannah would be together again. It was Monday afternoon, the day after Hannah had passed away. As in other things, Rogue had found that money talked, allowing all the arrangements for the funeral to be made quickly and quietly.

Rogue had not slept the night before, knowing that once she allowed herself to fall apart, it would take time for her to regain her footing. Instead she used the time to research local children's charities to see who would most benefit from the donation of Hannah's things. She had eventually settled on a group home in New York City that was known to take in mutant as well as 'normal' children. When she had contacted the director of the home that morning, the woman, Mrs. Cobb, had been glad of the gift and touched by the story behind it. On impulse, Rogue had offered a very generous donation to the upkeep and renovation of the home if they would consider renaming it after Hannah. Mrs. Cobb had told Rogue that she would be more than happy to do so. They had set up a meeting for the next week for Rogue to come by and learn the details of what her donation would be used for and to meet the children.

Piotr putting the car into park snapped Rogue out of her thoughts, and she looked out of the windshield, flinching internally at the sight of gravestones and monuments. She remained still until Piotr came around to open her door, reaching one large hand in to help her up. Rogue took the necessary step to be in his arms, drawing strength from her best friend to get through what was coming. Piotr let her lean into him, standing with his arms loosely holding her, ready to let go at a moment's notice when she was ready to continue.

She pulled away after nearly a minute, a brief smile touching her lips but not her eyes as she looked up at him in thanks. An echo of her smile curled the corners of his mouth briefly before he offered her his arm and they moved to follow the casket from the hearse to the gravesite. Avalanche and Remy were acting as pallbearers, the coffin small and light enough not to need more than the two of them to carry it.

Rogue walked quietly, leaning on Piotr's arm, her eyes trained on the coffin. She was aware on some level of the fact that she and Piotr were being followed by more than just Wanda and Pietro, but she needed a minute to gather herself before she could deal with whoever it was. So she ignored the tension caused by her awareness of the others until Remy and Avalanche had reached the site and gently set the casket down on the device that would lower it into the ground. Rogue turned and was immediately wrapped first in Wanda's arms and then in Pietro's.

The twins moved passed her, joining Avalanche and Remy. Rogue was finally able to focus on who else had shown up. It didn't surprise her to see Scott, though she was a bit thrown by the fact that Storm and Xavier were with him. But the person she hadn't been expecting was the one who approached her first.

"Emma," Rogue greeted, surprised when the blonde, dressed in a tasteful black suit instead of her usual white, leaned in for a brief hug. "Thank you for coming, I… how did you know?"

Emma smiled sadly, "Your grief when Hannah passed… it was projected very movingly on the astral plane. Because of having been inside your head and our most recent training, I recognized it as yours. I called Scott, and when he found out about the funeral, he returned my call to let me know. I caught the first flight back."

Rogue nodded her understanding, touched that Emma had cut her trip short when she had never even met Hannah. Emma moved to join the others after a parting squeeze to Rogue's gloved hand. Piotr made quiet introductions between Wanda and Emma before moving back to Rogue's side, letting Wanda introduce the woman to the rest of the Brotherhood.

As if Emma mentioning Scott had summoned him, the visored X-Man was among the next to approach Rogue, Storm preceding him pushing Xavier's wheelchair. Rogue relaxed slightly when she realized that Jean was not with them, not having noticed that she had tensed until then. She accepted a squeeze of her gloved hands from both Xavier and Storm, the weather witch murmuring quiet words of condolence.

Although his initial move to reach for her was hesitant, Rogue allowed Scott to hug her with his free arm. His right arm held two bouquets, and he showed them to her individually.

"The white roses are from me, according to the florist they're supposed to symbolize purity and heaven. Decipher and Conchita sent the daisies. They wanted to come, but we weren't sure how they'd handle it after what they've been through, so they send their love."

"Thank you, Scott," she replied softly. "You can go ahead and put them on her… on the coffin."

He took a step in that direction before hesitating and saying gently, "If you need _anything_…"

Rogue nodded. "That means a lot, thank you."

Scott moved away. After allowing her a silent minute, Piotr lightly squeezed Rogue's shoulder. Turning, Rogue walked to a spot near the tombstone that had Hannah's name, her date of death and the made up birth date the lawyer had put on the adoption papers since Hannah had never known her own birthday. Rogue looked at the people who had gathered here, all of them standing somewhat together on one side of the open grave since the other side was occupied by the earth that would cover the casket. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Rogue thanked everyone for coming and began to speak about the child she had only known for nine days but who had meant so much to her.

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Piotr watched Rogue carefully as she removed her shoes and the scant jewelry she had worn to the funeral (all except for Logan's tag, of course, _that _remained firmly in place as always). He, Wanda and Pietro knew it would only be a matter of time until she fell apart. Rogue had been holding everything in for far too long already, and the three of them had agreed between themselves that one of them would be with her at all times until it did happen, as well as however long she needed them afterward.

Piotr had talked the twins into letting him take first watch, using the fact that he would have to be back at Xavier's School the next morning to his advantage. He knew Rogue would finally crack within the next couple of hours, if not the next few minutes, and he was determined that he would be the one that was there for her when it happened.

Selfishly, Piotr was glad it would be _him_ who got to comfort her. But he had also acknowledged to himself that there was a good chance it would be best for Rogue to have someone she didn't have to worry about accidentally touching when she finally broke down. It wasn't right that she had to be in control _all_ the time. Especially in circumstances like these.

Ever mindful of the fact that she had to wear layers whenever she would be in proximity with other people, Rogue had worn a black suit with a skirt to the funeral, nylons encasing her legs. After a few minutes of staring absently into space, she reached for the first button on the suit jacket. The black silk gloves encasing her hands slipped on the smooth surface of the button, and Piotr was by her side in scant seconds when the first tear slid down her cheek. Rogue collapsed a moment later, her knees completely giving out. Thankfully, Piotr already had his arms around her and stopped her from dropping to the floor, lifting her bodily up against him.

Piotr moved them both to the large, comfortable chair near Rogue's bed. In his lap, Rogue immediately curled into his chest, crying with her face tucked into the crook of his neck. She tried to put her arms around him, but was impeded by the restrictive quality of the suit jacket's cut. Piotr gently eased his hands between them and found by feel the button she'd had trouble with, slipping it and the rest free of their holes so he could get the jacket off of her. She didn't offer any resistance to his motions, but she didn't help either, keeping her arms loose while heart-wrenching sobs wracked her body, allowing Piotr to move her around like a life-size rag doll.

Knowing his own wool suit was not exactly soft to the touch, with a bit of careful maneuvering Piotr took off his own jacket as well. Knowing that nothing he said could possibly help her right now but unable to sit silently while Rogue made such devastated noises, Piotr made comforting sounds as he held her, gently stroking her back.

At one point, when Rogue whimpered Hannah's name in the midst of her breakdown, Piotr felt a heart-wrenching pain twist his insides, and he realized that he, too, had been pushing aside his grief over the loss of the little girl, trying to stay strong for Rogue. He'd not had the same connection with her that Rogue had, but it was not conceit to say that he had been the next closest to the child. Rogue had been much less hesitant to include him in the psychic connection she shared with her daughter than she had been with Pietro or Wanda. Letting go of the hold he'd placed on his own emotions, Piotr let silent tears fall from his eyes as he held Rogue.

It was dusk when her sobs finally died out. Piotr was sure Rogue had worn herself out and fallen asleep, but when he shifted with the intention of getting up and moving her to the more comfortable surface of the bed, she lifted her head to look at him. Smiling sadly at the dried tear streaks below her puffy eyes, Piotr stood and turned around to deposit her in the chair. Rogue tightened her hold on him for an instant, a barely perceptible tremble starting in her body as she reluctantly let go of him.

"I'll be _right_ back," he promised her.

Rogue nodded her acknowledgement shakily, her eyes following him as he walked into her in-suite bathroom. He was back out within a minute, a washcloth in one hand. Piotr came back to the chair, taking it as a good sign when Rogue got up on her own to let him sit back down. She was in his lap once more seconds later, and a gentle hand on one shoulder stopped her from burying her face back in his chest.

"Close your eyes," Piotr gently commanded when she looked up at him.

She acquiesced, sighing softly when Piotr plied the warm, moist cloth to her face to wash away the signs of her breakdown. When he was done, he turned the cloth inside out and blew on it. Leaning Rogue back to rest against his other arm, Piotr laid the now cool cloth over her eyes, hoping the makeshift cold compress would help relieve the swelling of her eyes. They stayed that way for a quarter of an hour before Rogue sat up more and removed the washcloth from her face.

It was growing ever darker in the room, but this close Piotr could still see every detail of Rogue's face, knowing she could see his as well, that she would be able to for longer because of her heightened senses. He sat still as her gaze roved his. After she had searched his eyes for several long minutes, Rogue's eyes dropped to his mouth. Piotr couldn't help feeling warmer as she stared so openly at his lips. Before he could form the right way to ask if she was okay, Rogue was suddenly kissing him. Her mouth slanted over his, and Piotr, surprised by the spark that seemed to jump between them, responded automatically when her tongue darted out to trace the seam of his lips.

Piotr was so shocked by her actions that he didn't notice Rogue had shifted the rest of her body to straddle his lap until he suddenly realized that her chest was pressed to his and his own hands had somehow found their way to her hips. The knowledge that people who'd had a close experience with death often had the urge to reaffirm the fact that they were alive passed through Piotr's mind. He was torn as to what to do, but when Rogue pulled her mouth away slightly to catch her breath, he took the opportunity to give her an out, setting her back via his grip on her waist.

"Marie," he cautioned, barely able to stop himself from moaning her name, knowing his easy capitulation would only make things worse later when she was thinking clearly again. Heaven forbid that the knowledge that he had wanted her should cause her to push him out of her life. "We can't…"

"Piotr." Her voice broke on his name, and her eyes pleaded with him silently for long moments as she struggled for the ability to speak again. "I… I know it's selfish, and I shouldn't be asking it of you, but I… I need this."

"I would do anything for you, Marie," he finally answered, his fingers tightening their hold on her hips when she tried to return to her previous position against him. "But you have to be sure you want this."

"If you think our friendship won't stand up to... to this and allow us to get passed it, we can forget I brought it up," Rogue said softly. "Because I can't lose you."

She didn't say the 'too' at the end of the sentence, but they both felt it. Despite her words about forgetting what she was asking of him, the plea for him to give her this night together was still there in her expressive eyes. With a soft sigh of surrender, Piotr gently cupped her face with his large hands, drawing her mouth back to his.

He knew there would be awkwardness between them after this, and that it would take more for him to go back to best friend footing than it would for her because of his feelings for her, but he had to do this. Some would think that he was taking advantage of the situation in order to be with her the way he had been wanting to for several months now, but it just wasn't true. He was doing this for her, to help her work through the tangle of her emotions in the only way he had been presented with. He would not be getting what he wanted with just one night. What he really wanted, what he knew he could never have, was so much more. And though part of his heart would surely break when the night was over, he knew that the strength and depth of their friendship was something worth fighting for with everything in him.

When Piotr eventually broke from her mouth to lift her in his arms, moving them both from the chair to her bed, he reassured them both in a whisper, "We can get through this. We can get through anything."

**To be continued…**

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**Author's Note:** Thesecond halfof the next chapter marks the beginning of my version of the events in the movie X2, so spoiler alert! (Though how it can be a spoiler after all these years is beyond me, and X3 aka X-Men: The Last Stand starts tomorrow (have had my tickets for opening day since Monday!).) This means Logan will be coming back _verrry_ soon (which I know a lot of you have been waiting for) and things will start to get really interesting (at least I hope so, lol). So stay tuned! …And please review!


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

This chapter would have been up Sunday night, but I haven't been able to log in to FFN since Sunday early afternoon for some reason :(. Thank you to all my reviewers, including the anonymous ones I can't respond to. Your words mean a lot to me.

**Just a heads up,** I will be reworking many of the various scenes that Mystique, Rogue or Wolverine appeared in during X2, but there will be scenes they weren't in that I will skip, and you can infer that it just happened the same way as in the movie. Also, I will not be covering the scene between Mystique and the prison guard. I didn't feel it was necessary.

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Rogue woke alone in her bed, and her heart squeezed painfully at the thought that her selfishness had chased away the best friend she'd ever had. But then she sat up, noticing Piotr's suit jacket draped at the bottom of the bed at the same time that the sound of the sink in her bathroom reached her ears. The relief she felt was palpable but momentary, the guilt easing aside to let her still-raw loss pierce her heart. For the short time she'd been with her, Hannah had filled some of the empty place in her heart, and now Rogue felt that hole more acutely than ever.

A minute later, Piotr exited the bathroom, smiling when he saw that she was awake. She smiled softly back, pushing her own feelings aside for a moment to study his face as he approached the bed. Although he seemed a bit preoccupied, Piotr didn't appear to have any overt anxiety over the previous night's events. Rogue was not naïve enough to think that everything would immediately be as it had always been between them after they'd been intimate, but this gave her hope that it wouldn't be as long or serious a strain as it might have been.

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"How are you?" Piotr asked from beside her, sitting on the edge of the bed to tie his shoes.

He meant the question in regards to dealing with Hannah's death, knowing she would pick up on that fact. Part of him was curious what the residents of her head thought of what had happened last night, or more truthfully what _one_ of the residents of her head thought, but he'd never ask. It would put too much importance on something that he knew was better left in the past, no matter how recently it had happened.

She looked away, staring into the distance. Piotr recognized the look as one she wore when taking internal inventory, something she did a lot less frequently since Emma had helped her 'clean house,' and he stayed quiet to wait for her response.

"I feel like part of me is missing," she finally answered honestly. Rogue returned her gaze to his, a small part of her eyes' usual warmth still present, a sign Piotr took as a good indicator that she would return to herself in time. "But I know that I'll be okay eventually. I know that I'm not alone, that you and a few other people still care very deeply about me."

"Believe it," he assured her softly, leaning down to kiss her, turning his head at the last moment to brush his lips across her cheek instead of her mouth.

Rogue smiled faintly at him as he stood. "Will you be back this afternoon?"

Piotr shook his head, "I have things I need to catch up on at the school. I'll come by tomorrow after classes." When he saw something suspiciously like disappointment flicker in her eyes, he hesitated before adding, "If you need me for anything before that, all you have to do is call."

Apparently placated, Rogue nodded, murmuring goodbye when Piotr headed for the door.

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Wanda looked up as Piotr entered the kitchen. "How is she?"

"A little better," he answered. "She finally let go last night. She'll undoubtedly have times in the weeks to come when she'll cry over the loss… but the major break down is out of the way."

Wanda nodded her understanding, frowning when she realized Piotr was hesitant about something. "Is there more?"

A deep sigh lifted and lowered his powerful shoulders, and Piotr nodded slightly. "I'd like you to make sure she's okay with… well, last night, we were together."

Wanda's eyes widened in surprise, and Piotr hastened to assure her, "I wasn't taking advantage of her, she asked. I gave her more than one opportunity to back down, but it was just something she needed. To feel a connection with someone who was still here with her, for her."

"I didn't think you had taken advantage, Piotr," she responded. "You would never do that to her. I was just surprised."

The Russian nodded slowly. "Just… keep an eye on her and let me know if anything seems off."

Wanda nodded, watching Piotr leave through the kitchen door. Wanda decided to allow Rogue half an hour to get up and get dressed before she'd invade the other young woman's room and force her to do so. Force ended up being unnecessary as Rogue showed up in the kitchen twenty minutes later. She was dressed in a lay-around-the-house outfit of jogging pants and a long sleeve t-shirt, but Wanda had to give her points for doing even that much without being prodded. After a soft, unenthusiastic greeting for Wanda, Rogue opened the pantry and stared at the food there for a minute before shutting the door with a disgusted sound.

"I don't think I'm hungry," she said in response to Wanda's questioning look.

"You have to eat, Rogue," Wanda replied, using the other woman's code name since Avalanche or Remy could walk into the kitchen at any time. "I don't think you had anything yesterday." Wanda crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best stern-lecturer pose. "I'm not going to let you waste away on us."

The mutant witch was a bit surprised when Rogue spontaneously hugged her, but she returned the embrace readily.

"Thank you for putting up with me," Rogue said as she pulled away.

Realizing that her friend was trying to instill a little humor into the situation, even if it was self-deprecating, Wanda let the remark slide with a simple squeeze of Rogue's hand in reply.

"I'll make you some toast," she said. "But at lunch you need to eat something more substantial."

Rogue nodded her understanding of the order and sat on one of the kitchen's stools to watch Wanda move around the large room. When she had made the toast and poured Rogue a cup of coffee, Wanda sat down next to her. She took her time studying the younger woman, noting that the circles under her eyes weren't as noticeable as the day before but that Rogue still looked as if she might crumple into herself.

Moving on from Hannah's death would take time for Rogue, but Wanda couldn't help being happy that Rogue'd had the opportunity to be a mother, even for so short a time. Rogue loved the Wolverine, who hadn't made an appearance for a little over a year, and despite her occasional urging Rogue to give someone else a chance, Wanda was fairly sure Rogue never would. Last night had been a one-time thing brought on by extreme circumstances. And there was always the fact that her skin would make conception nearly impossible.

A sudden thought struck Wanda, and she asked Rogue, "Did you want to talk about last night at all?"

Rogue blinked, surprise showing in the wideness of her eyes. She chewed and swallowed before answering Wanda's abrupt question.

"Piotr told you." It was a statement, not a question, and Rogue continued after a slight pause, "It was something I needed, and despite the utter selfishness of my asking for it, Piotr… helped me. There's not really anything else to say about it; it was… private."

"I'm not asking for details, Rogue," Wanda responded gently. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any concerns or anything. Is… is there any chance you might have gotten… pregnant?"

She had been hesitant to mention the chance of a new life growing inside Rogue after the loss she had just suffered, but it had to be addressed. Wanda watched carefully but saw no signs of shock from Rogue.

Rogue shook her head, answering, "Because of the Logan in my head and my advanced senses, I know when I'm fertile, for lack of a better word…"

"What does he think of what happened?" Wanda couldn't help interrupting.

"He and Erik are both happy that I had the time I did with Hannah, if that's what you mean," Rogue said calmly, with just a hint of steel beneath the Southern accent. "They've both been pretty quiet since the night we picked her up. But they're making their presences known now in a gentle, supportive way. And if you mean about last night, Logan knows it was about comfort and… life." Rogue shrugged. "Anyway, if pregnancy had been a risk I wouldn't have asked Piotr; I wouldn't do that to him."

Wanda knew that Piotr probably would have welcomed it if it had meant that he and Rogue would have a life together, but she kept the observation to herself. Making Rogue feel guilty about it or even bringing it to her attention at all wouldn't help anyone. It would, in fact, drive a wedge between Rogue and Piotr, and no one who knew and cared about either of them would want that.

Taking Wanda's silence for acceptance of her statement, Rogue moved on to a new topic. "I know I've been relying on you and Pietro to take care of Darkholme a lot lately, but if it's okay, I need a couple more days before I get back to a normal schedule."

"Of course," Wanda answered. "Take as long as you need."

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Logan cursed colorfully when his elbow came in contact with the bucket of nails beside him. It started sliding down the shingled roof, rattling each time it bumped to a lower shingle. He caught it with one booted foot before it could get completely out of reach or fall off the roof. Leaning toward it, he used the flat of one claw to hook the bucket's handle and lift it back within arm's reach. The weather had finally dried up enough to make patching the roof possible. Unfortunately, the most profitable leg of the fight circuit was starting very soon, and if he didn't hit the road the next day, he'd miss the fights with the biggest purses.

That gave him one day to take advantage of the weather to get some work done on the cabin's exterior. He'd done all he could inside during the harshest winter months, making repairs and giving the place a thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. Treks into the nearest large towns when the weather had permitted had yielded furniture that didn't look like it had come from a dumpster and new shelves and cabinetry for the formally bare walls, along with all the various odds and ends that he'd taken for granted only using the cabin a month or two out of every year since he'd picked it up in a card game six years ago. Things he knew would be necessities if he, or anyone else, were to stay for any length of time. The cabin was also stocked up on supplies that would only require picking up the things that would go bad if left until the next time he came up.

In a few months when spring was well on it's way to becoming summer and the ground finally thawed (and coincidentally when the fighting circuit slowed down), Logan had plans to expand the cabin. He wanted to add another bedroom to the structure that right now only boasted one bedroom, a small bathroom that tapped into the nearest town's water and sewage system, and a main room that acted as front room, kitchen and dining room. He also wanted to expand the bathroom and add a wraparound porch with a covered walkway leading to the already-existing simple garage structure that was just big enough for his truck and Scott's motorcycle.

He, the mighty Wolverine… King of the Cage, was nesting. A gruff laugh escaped him at the thought, but it was at least partially true. When he'd first begun his fix-it chores, he'd told himself it was because he now had a direction to look for his past, therefore leaving the path to the future more open than before. But the more he did to improve the place, the more he wondered what a certain someone would think of his home when she saw it. He'd never thought of it as a home before, just a place to stay like all those cheap motels on the road. But now, when he looked at it, he actually saw it. Saw it as a place to come back to, to fill with things that mattered to him… things he could share with her.

Marie had been at the edge of his thoughts since leaving Westchester County, and Logan often found himself wondering what she was up to, who she was with… if she was happy. He had known when they were saying goodbye in the foyer at Xavier's that she had wanted to come with him if he had to leave, but he couldn't have done that to her. She needed to finish school, to have the chance to have as much of a normal life as she could while she finished growing up. He hadn't had anything to offer her then, and it would have killed him to let her down that way. Leaving her in Xavier's care had been the best way to keep his promise to protect her while he was getting back on his feet. And he figured Xavier owed it to both of them after the trouble they'd gone through because of his jumping to conclusions.

There had been times when he'd wanted to go back and check up on her, but he knew it wouldn't have gone well. As much as he wanted her to get the life experiences she needed, he didn't want to have to watch her getting those experiences with other people. If he had been there, if he had stayed instead of leaving, Logan knew she would have stuck with him. And eventually she would have come to resent the fact that she'd known nothing but him. That was the last thing he wanted.

And though Marie would now be used to living in a mansion surrounded by all the finest things, she'd never struck him as someone who would get spoiled easily. But if the cabin weren't, for some reason, enough for her, he would be more than glad to work to get her everything she wanted. There had been people in the first year after he'd woken in the woods with no memory who had helped him remember what it was like to be human, and he would have gladly killed for them, but killing meant less to him than it did to other people. Marie had been the first person to strike the particular cord within him that had called forth the most possessive and protective aspects of the Wolverine, to truly awaken the man he could be. She was the only one in his memory that he'd been willing to die for.

With a sigh, Logan turned back to his task, prying old, rotted shingles off of the roof with the back of the hammer. When he had removed the parts of the roof that needed to be replaced, he would replace them with new shingles, giving the entire roof a coat of sealant that should insure that the roof would last through at least a few more winters.

The money he would undoubtedly make in the upcoming series of cage fights would replace all he had spent on repairs, furniture and goods in the past months, as well as the construction supplies he had ordered ahead for the planned additions. Only when he had finished the project would he close up the cabin for his trip to Alkali Lake. He would go and see if there was anything left after the nearly seventeen years since he was first aware of himself that would help him find clues to his past. And then he would head back to New York.

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Rogue circulated through the fair sized crowd inside Darkholme. It was a much better dressed group of people than one would usually find during business hours. It was the night of the Hannah House Charity Auction, and Rogue was pleased with the turn out. When she had met up with Mrs. Cobb at the group home to see how her donation would help the children living there, Rogue had discovered a new cause. Mutant children weren't the only ones kicked out by parents or who ran from bad situations. And the kids that ended up in places like the group home, while better off than those on the streets, still lacked a lot of the opportunities needed to get ahead.

She'd had a long talk with Mrs. Cobb about the way money was raised from non-government sources to cover what government funding didn't. Mrs. Cobb had introduced her to Miss James, a middle aged woman who'd been doing charitable work and fundraising for children's concerns in New York for several years. Miss James had been thrilled to meet someone who wanted to help, and after many discussions, she'd broached the idea of Rogue's proposed donation to Hannah House being divided between immediate needs of the group home and starting a charitable foundation. Miss James was well versed in fundraising activities and approaching the right people for support, but she had always lacked the right backer to take her work to the next level. Rogue had agreed, promising Darkholme as a location for the Foundation's first event.

An auction was chosen as the first venue, with many of the items up for sale being donated outright for the advertising the various companies would get free at the event. The rest had been purchased by the Foundation at a hefty discount for the same reason. When Rogue had told Emma Frost about the auction, mentioning the reasonable event admission price that would cover the cost of the event so all the auction proceeds would go straight to the Foundation, Emma had given her a list of the members of the Hell Fire Club who would be interested in the charity as a tax break, complete with contact information. Rogue had given the list to Miss James, along with the contact information for Charles Xavier and his staff. She'd had no idea whether they would come, considering that Xavier had the financial matters of his Institute to think of first, but her inner Erik had assured her that Xavier would probably make a point of coming just for the potential contacts he could make.

To her surprise, all of Xavier's senior staff had come, though the surprise hadn't been pleasant in the case of Jean Grey. Luckily she'd left hosting duties to Miss James and hadn't had to interact with the other woman other than to nod a hello when Jean had arrived on Scott's arm.

While the auction preview was underway, the guests were served cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Literature about Hannah House, along with the other group homes and community centers the auction and future work of Hannah House Charitable Foundation would be benefiting, was placed near many of the items up for auction, and staff of the Foundation were wearing special buttons to signify their availability to answer questions. The staff of Darkholme along with extra workers from a catering service were acting as servers.

Rogue was just about to make another circuit of the room when Pietro appeared at her elbow.

Keeping his voice low enough that she'd be the only one able to hear him, he told her, "You might want to save that bank president guy from Grey."

His disdain for Jean Grey was clear in his tone, and Rogue nodded when she followed his line of site to where Jean was talking animatedly to a frowning older gentleman. He happened to be a member of the Hell Fire Club, and a human. Pietro sighed heavily and moved to continue his rounds. She'd given he and Wanda the option of not working the event, but they'd both wanted to help in remembrance of Hannah.

Rogue moved closer to where Jean and the Hell Fire Club member were standing. She sighed when she heard that Jean was trying to get his opinion on the latest mutant legislation, making hers _very_ clear. Spotting Emma nearby, she strolled to the blonde's side, sending her a mental message before leading her back to Jean and Mr. Orson.

"Mr. Orson," Rogue said brightly. "I'm sorry it took me so long to find Miss Frost for you. She'll show you that item you expressed interest in."

With an expression of intense gratitude even a non-telepath would have caught a mile away, Orson tucked Emma's hand through his arm before walking down the room to where the tables displaying the auction items were. Jean turned on Rogue, her eyes flashing.

"Don't think I don't know you did that on purpose."

Rogue lifted her chin. "This is a fundraiser to benefit children, Jean, not a political rally. Mr. Orson is making a very generous donation that will help human _and mutant_ children alike, and he does not deserve to be grilled when he's trying to enjoy himself."

Before Jean could respond, Scott showed up next to her, a tight expression on his face.

"You promised," he hissed quietly.

"I wasn't doing or saying anything to Rogue, Scott," Jean responded as if Rogue weren't standing right there. "It's not my fault she thinks the whole world revolves around her."

Rogue flinched and wondered _why_ she was still standing there listening.

"This," Scott gestured in an arc with one hand, "_is_ her world, Jean. You're a guest in it. Now act like it, or we'll leave."

Jean drew herself as tall and straight as she possibly could and calmly spun on her heel, headed in the general direction of the last place Rogue had seen Xavier and Storm. She smiled sadly at Scott, trying to apologize without words for her part in their little tiff. He smiled back, a soft sigh escaping as he, too, walked away in Jean's wake. Feeling a mental nudge from Emma, Rogue made her way to join the White Queen and Orson. She was confidant now that the rest of the auction would go smoothly.

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**Nearly a year later…**

"To the owner of Darkholme, who is now old enough to drink in her own club," Pietro toasted.

A round of laughter and "here, here" rose from those at and around the table before they lifted their drinks, most actually non-alcoholic, to their mouths. Rogue laughed with the others, settling back against the cushioned booth when they all turned back to what they had been doing before Pietro's impromptu toast.

Wanda, Piotr, Avalanche, Remy, and a few of the older teens from Xavier's school… Jubilee, Kitty, Bobby and John… were also with her to celebrate. Mystique's enforced absence due to Senator Kelly's busy schedule had allowed Rogue to feel okay about inviting the friends she had become reacquainted with over the last several months to join them. The two boys were still sulking somewhat at her refusal to serve them alcohol as they had done every time since first being able to come in on club nights a few months ago when they turned eighteen, but they were all having fun together.

Rogue had wanted to invite Scott, but didn't want to cause another fight between he and Jean like at the Hannah House auction so many months ago. She'd had Piotr pass along the sentiment to Scott, who had understood and sent his birthday wishes along with a card and small gift through Piotr. Decipher and Conchita, having adopted her as an older sister figure and often tagging along when she and Piotr went out, had asked that the four of them go out the next day to celebrate since the two weren't yet old enough to come to Darkholme, having just recently turned fifteen.

John and Avalanche were talking cars. Kitty was trying to coax Bobby into getting out on the dance floor with her. Jubilee was flirting outrageously with Remy, who of course was flirting right back. Pietro was eying a blonde across the room (Rogue had noticed he had a definite preference for blondes in all the time she had known him) and twitching slightly, a sure sign he would make his move soon. Wanda and Piotr were talking about the gifts Rogue had received, including the motorcycle Mystique had sent as an apology for missing another birthday, though she was at least able to remember it this time.

After the Hannah House Auction, Rogue had asked Emma to let her take a break from her more active participation in the Hell Fire Club's activities. Even though it meant putting the Inner Circle's consideration of her becoming part of the more exclusive sect of the group on indefinite hold, Emma had agreed. Rogue was sure it had been at least partially because of Emma's sympathy over her loss of Hannah, and maybe also because Emma was afraid to push Rogue into breaking off their dealings entirely. There was something Emma wanted from her, Rogue knew, but she'd yet to figure out what it was. In any case, their one on one training had continued, but Rogue had hit a plateau of fifteen minutes of only-drawing-one-thing-out touch months ago and had been unable to progress beyond it. Still, Rogue was thankful for even that much control.

"Miss Darkholme?" a soft voice interrupted Rogue's musings.

Rogue looked up to see Sue, her newest hire, wringing her hands. The young woman… a mutant with a superior memory, excellent at taking group orders without writing them down… was a few years older than Rogue and had been working at Darkholme for nearly a month but still wasn't comfortable addressing her less formally as "Rogue." She wasn't the only mutant Rogue employed, but Sue had gotten into trouble at her last job because of forgetting… an irony considering her non-physical mutation… to wear the contacts that typically hid her unusual golden eyes, something she had stopped doing for the most part now that she worked in a place that was known to be mutant-friendly. Sue had been particularly grateful to find a boss who was also a mutant, which Rogue assumed was part of what made Sue treat her with such respect.

"Yes, Sue?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt. The delivery that was diverted yesterday is here now, and the driver said only you could sign for it."

Rogue nodded; she herself had implemented that rule after one of her first employees had turned out to be a bad hire, skimming cases of liquor from the deliveries he signed for. In actuality she, Wanda, or Pietro could sign, but Rogue was first choice if she were available and all the drivers knew her car, which was currently in the back parking lot. Remy and Avalanche, of course, didn't work at Darkholme, and therefore couldn't legally sign for the shipments. They were both fairly regular customers, though, Remy more so than Avalanche.

"Thanks, Sue, I'll be right there."

The waitress nodded and headed back to the area she was assigned for the night.

"Want me or Pietro to go?" Wanda asked.

Rogue shook her head. "I need to stretch my legs for a minute anyway, but thanks for the offer."

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Wanda glanced around what she could see of the club from her seat. It had been at least forty-five minutes since Rogue had excused herself.

"Where's Rogue?" she asked no one in particular. "It doesn't usually take that long for her to sign for a delivery."

Though the actual signing only lasted the few minutes it took to visually check the boxes or crates being delivered and sign the appropriate form, Rogue also oversaw the unloading. But the shipment that had been diverted the day before was a smaller one of the specialty liquors they carried only a small supply of, so it shouldn't have taken that long to put away.

"I'll go find her," Piotr assured, rising from his seat beside Rogue's empty one.

Though she hadn't been visible from Wanda's spot, Rogue was fairly close to the table. She was near the main bar, standing perfectly still and looking at the portrait that hung above the donation box for Hannah House. The little mutant girl the re-christened group home had been named after was the subject of the painting, one of a series Piotr had done just for Rogue.

Hannah had proven to be nearly as inspirational a model for his paintings as Rogue… though he'd had to do those of Hannah from memory… and Piotr had also done a series for the small gallery in New York City that showed and sold his work. His favorite, one that had featured Rogue gazing with motherly devotion on the girl in some of her last moments, had been a heart-wrenching piece both to paint and to view, but had still brought in the rather high asking price he had attached to it. He had donated his profits from the painting to Hannah House.

Among the ones he had done for Rogue there were a few portraits of the little blonde girl alone, most of them showing her as she would have looked healthy. The one hanging on Darkholme's wall showed Hannah as she had been when Rogue first brought her home. Under it was a plaque that read, "Hannah Darkholme, 1998 to 2005, In nine short days she changed our lives and touched our hearts." In the painting Hannah was hauntingly pretty but also obviously sick, large brown eyes slightly sunken and her face not as full as one on a child her age should be. Piotr had often seen Rogue smile at it wistfully, but right now she was staring almost blankly at it, and Piotr knew Rogue wasn't seeing the portrait but remembering some moment with Hannah from those few days.

Piotr approached her from the side so she would see him coming, and when he reached her, she leaned into his side slightly, automatically.

"You still miss her," Piotr remarked softly, no hint of surprise in his voice.

Rogue nodded absently, still gazing at the portrait, "I know it sounds silly with how short a time she was with me and how long ago it was, but I never realized how much I wanted children until I had her with me."

"I understand completely," he assured her. "Hannah was a sweet, remarkable girl, and you were a good mother to her, as you will be to anyone else who comes along." After a silent moment, he wrapped his arm around her waist. After the night of Hannah's funeral, it had taken them a little while to get their previous level of comfort regarding touching back, but they had, and their friendship was stronger than ever. "We should get back to your party."

Piotr punctuated his last statement with a slight squeeze.

Rogue blinked, her eyes clearing, and smiled up at him before glancing over at the lively table of their friends. "Life's pretty good right now, isn't it?"

Smiling affectionately, Piotr leaned down slightly to kiss the top of her head. "It really is."

They could only hope it stayed that way.

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When Logan reached the closest town to the Alkali Lake area, he had to stop and ask a local the easiest way to get there since most roads were closed due to snow. He was surprised to discover by way of the market owner's calendar that it had been exactly two years since he had left Xavier's. How had that much time possibly passed? He supposed in a way it shouldn't have surprised him. The fifteen years between his waking naked and bloody in the woods and his first meeting Marie had gone by in a pretty quick blur too.

He asked the man for directions. After assuring the guy that he was a skilled and experienced arctic climber, more than capable of handling a hike through snowdrifts, he was given a map and a suggested route. One the bike would never be able to handle, even in much better weather conditions. He'd left the truck up at the cabin, and he was really wishing now that he hadn't. After forking over nearly a night's prize money, Logan was able to procure the owner's promise to store and look after the bike for a couple days.

That had been yesterday. Puffing on a cigar, Logan climbed the last few yards up the hill that would lead him into the valley where a dam overlooked the area of Alkali Lake that had once been an industrial complex, which Logan had to assume was the cover for what must have been a military facility given the dog tag he had woken up with. Logan wondered briefly what Marie had done with his tag. Was it tucked away in a drawer somewhere, or had she kept it out where she could see it and remember him on a regular basis? He paused at the top of the tree-covered hill, drawing deeply on his cigar. Pulling the stogie away from his face, he inhaled strongly through his nose, scenting the air. It smelled of forest and a not-too-long gone animal of the four-legged variety, but he could detect no human smells.

Clenching his jaw, Logan headed down the hill toward his goal. An old barbed wire fence that had seen better days marked the outskirts of the rundown facility. Logan paused when he spotted a mostly-white wolf staring at him. The animal regarded him with a lazy look that on a man would have been a smirk. It turned and headed through the main gates of the Alkali Lake compound, stopping and looking over its shoulder once as if to say, 'come on, what are you waiting for?'

Logan followed slowly, giving the animal plenty of leeway. He knew, of course, that the predator couldn't do permanent damage to him in the long run, but he didn't want to have to hurt it, either. When he walked through the gates, all he saw was broken stone in the vague shape of walls, snow filling every crevice. The wolf had disappeared. And so had his hope for a lead to his past. There was nothing here to spark a memory, not even a single rickety building. If this was where the adamantium that reinforced his skeleton had come from, it had to have been longer ago than the seventeen years he could remember. There was no way a military base and laboratory could fall into such disrepair in less than two decades. All that was left was rubble and a few broken walls.

Hanging his head for a moment, Logan shifted his backpack and headed back the way he had come. It was time to go back to the cabin, pick up his truck and close the cabin up for however long he would be gone, and make the trip to Xavier's school. Time to see Marie again and see if the connection that they had once shared was still there. Time to find out what else the Professor did or did not know.

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Scott took a cursory glance around the museum to do a visual check on the students. All of them were here on the yearly field trip, and it was a lot of youngsters to keep track of. Even though the kids had been split into groups headed by Piotr, Storm, Xavier, Jean and himself, Scott still found it necessary to check on all of them whenever possible. He smiled when his gaze met Jean's. She had cut her hair recently, and the tips of the not-even-shoulder-length strands were flared outward like gently tamed fire. He was still getting used to the cut, but because he knew it made her feel more youthful he told her he liked it. Scott turned his attention back to the group that was officially his to watch over. They were all avidly watching an educational cartoon about hunter-gatherers.

Suddenly, the screens all began to flicker, and the small part of his mind that was always in tune with Jean flinched. He turned to see her hunched slightly, her hand at her forehead, her eyes closed in seeming concentration. He walked over quickly and took a light hold of her shoulders.

"Jean? You okay?"

His fiancée snapped out of her trance and the screens returned to normal.

"Yeah," she assured slightly breathlessly. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a... just a headache."

Scott's jaw tensed. He didn't like it when she was keeping something from him. She had been doing it too often lately. And confronted with proof in the harsh light of day that not everything was okay, he was more than concerned.

"It's not just a headache, is it?" She avoided his gaze, but he pressed on, "Listen, I wasn't sure how to say this, but ever since Liberty Island you've been..."

"Scott..." she tried to interrupt him.

"You've been different," he finished firmly.

"My telepathy seems to be off lately," she tried to placate him. "I can't seem to focus, I can hear _everything_."

"Jean," Scott said harshly, trying to make her face whatever the real problem was so they could deal with it together. "It's not just your telepathy, and it's been steadily getting worse. Two years ago you had to concentrate just to levitate a book or a chair across the room. Now, when you have a nightmare, the entire bedroom shakes."

"My dreams are getting worse," Jean answered softly. "Scott... I keep feeling like something terrible is going to happen."

Scott pulled the woman he loved into his arms, soothing, "I would never let anything happen to you."

For a moment, their connection fed back to him a small amount of her doubt, and he was hurt that she didn't think there was anything he could do. Before he could react to it, however, another problem presented itself.

"Hey," Storm called as she walked by with her group of kids. "Have you guys seen Bobby and John?"

Scott flinched. St. John Allderyce was the school's biggest troublemaker, and most of the time his best friend and cohort Bobby Drake went along with whatever the other boy had planned.

Jean took on a look of controlled concentration and observed in a far away voice, "Something's happening in the food court."

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"My brother asked you a simple question," the taller of the two teens said in an angry voice.

"Why are you being such a dick?" the brother in question asked.

"Yeah," the first echoed stupidly. "Why are you being such a dick?"

Flicking his shark lighter open and snapping it shut repetitiously, John looked up and smirked, "Because I can."

John laughed at his own wittiness, and next to him Bobby smiled. John continued to play with his lighter, a habit Bobby sometimes found annoying, and the teens who had approached them sighed in frustration.

"Can I have a light?" The shorter of the two humans asked again.

"Hmm." John pretended to consider the request for a moment, staring at his lit lighter. He snapped it shut. "Sorry, I can't help you out, pal."

Bobby glanced around, noticing for the first time that they had drawn a lot of outside attention with John's antics. Even though the Mutant Registration Act had been temporarily defeated two years ago, tensions were still high when it came to the 'mutant problem'. Bobby didn't want to think about what could happen if they weren't careful.

"John," he said quietly. "Maybe you should just give them a light now. It's not a good idea to show off in front of so many people."

"We're just trying to have a good time here," John responded.

Growing even more uneasy, Bobby tried again, "I think you're the only one having a good time."

Usually when he directed a certain disappointed tone to John, the other teen would stop what he was doing. This time, however, John just seemed to get a little mad, turning to glare at Bobby. When John's attention shifted, the brother of the smoker leaned forward and swiped the lighter.

John stood up. "Hey!"

The guy who swiped the lighter blocked John as the second one lit his cigarette and took a drag.

"That's real cute, man," John said, a defeated note in his voice.

Both guys were bigger and a bit tougher looking than him.

"What are you gonna do?" the smoker's brother challenged.

John chuckled slightly and Bobby stood up, not sure how far John would go when pushed.

"Suddenly you're not so tough," the teen continued to provoke John.

'Uh oh,' Bobby thought.

John winked at the guy taking another drag on his cigarette, and flames shot from the cancer stick, lighting the young man's sleeve aflame. John laughed as the guy fell to the floor, freaking out, but Bobby started panicking. Without thinking about the consequences of so many witnesses, Bobby sent a spray of frost at the fire, putting it out and giving the guy a too-real flocking on his arm all the way up to his face.

A second after his eyes nearly fell out of his frightened face, the guy froze completely. Bobby looked around. Everyone but he and John were unmoving statues.

"Way to go, Iceman!" said John excitedly.

"I didn't do this," Bobby corrected John. He didn't think he _wanted_ to be able to do something like this.

"No." A voice said. Xavier's voice. "I did." Both boys cowered slightly as the Professor wheeled up to them. "And the next time you feel like showing off, don't."

John was saved from having to reply by a newscast interrupting the programming on a nearby TV.

"Breaking news," the reporter declared. "We're coming to you live from Washington where there's been an attack in the Oval Office of the White House. Details are still coming in, but we have been informed that the President and Vice President were not harmed. Sources say the attack involved one or more mutants."

By this time, the rest of the staff and students of Xavier's school had gathered nearby, and Scott observed, "I think it's time to leave, Professor."

"I think you're right." Xavier answered.

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Rogue looked up from checking that the cash registers had enough change for that night when the Special Report came on the TV, interrupting the sports program Pietro had been listening to as he mopped Darkholme's dance floor at hyper speed. He stopped in his tracks to pay full attention to the TV. When the report was over, Pietro turned the TV off, a scowl on his face.

"Damn," he swore softly. "Think Mystique will be able to smooth things over after this one?"

"I hope so," Rogue answered quietly.

She glanced around the club, noting that everything that needed to be done in preparation for opening that night had been completed except for Pietro's interrupted mopping. But was it smart for a club that was known to welcome mutants to be open when tensions were sure to be at an all time high? The club wasn't the important thing. Her main concern was for her friends and patrons.

"Maybe we shouldn't..." she began.

She never got to finish.

"I know that look," Pietro interrupted. "You can't close tonight. Do you know how many of the regulars paid in advance to guarantee that they'd get in? We're going to be packed."

Rogue sighed, "Okay, but just tonight, after that we'll close for a week to be on the safe side. And we'll need to make absolutely sure everyone who's let in tonight is pro-mutant."

"You're the boss!"

Pietro saluted her jauntily and went back to his mopping. He was done moments later and out the door before she could even utter an 'I'll see you later.' Rogue shook her head fondly and checked everything one last time before locking up the club. She had only a few hours to take a nap and get ready before coming back to open that night. Rogue let out a contented sigh as she turned toward her car.

Except for the occasional scare of anti-mutant activity, life was good. An unbidden image of Logan rose in her mind as she realized she hadn't seen him for a little over two years, and she reached for the tag that still hung around her neck everyday. One corner of her mouth lifted in a smirk when she wondered what he would think of her now.

Rogue had a job, a home, a purpose; she had friends and a family life, no matter how small it was. But a great many of the most important people of her life _would_ probably drop out of it if Magneto were to ever escape his plastic prison and she would certainly have to leave her home since it was actually his. So maybe life wasn't exactly perfect, but it was still good.

**To be continued...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Notes** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

Here it is, the long-awaited reunion between Logan and Marie… hope everyone likes it! I certainly enjoyed writing it.

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Logan pulled three twenty dollar bills from his wallet to pay the tow truck driver, glad that they'd been able to find a tire shop that, while not open for long enough to replace the tire on his truck that had met the business end of a large nail while he'd been driving on the freeway, was at least open long enough to take his order and keep his truck overnight so he could get it fixed in the morning. Until then he would take the backpack that acted as his overnight bag along with Scott's motorcycle from the bed of the truck, and head to a motel for the night. The funny thing was that he was only a town away from Salem Center, where Xavier's school was located.

But now that he was this close, he was in no hurry to get there as soon as possible. And he would much rather show up with his truck than without it. Once Scott got his precious bike back, Logan was sure the other man would never let him near it again. He doubted Scott would be willing to give him a ride back to the tire shop, and Logan really didn't like traveling in taxis. He had no control over them whatsoever, and most of them smelled like too many people and things he'd rather not identify.

There was, of course, also the fact that he'd heard a news report on the radio that afternoon about an attack on the White House that had supposedly been perpetrated by a mutant. Logan knew enough about Xavier's involvement in the state of human-mutant relations from his brief but eventful stay at the school to know that the telepath would be getting involved with this situation. And because it had nothing to do with him, or Marie for that matter, Logan was firm in his resolve not to get involved this time. Whatever Xavier was going to do, whoever he was going to assign to deal with it, Logan was sure it would happen in the next few hours, if it hadn't already begun.

After getting things squared away with the guy who ran the tire shop, Logan asked him where the closest motel was, and if he knew the best place nearby to get a beer. The man gave him rather simple directions to a motel three blocks away and a bar that was a block further than that. After giving him a perusing once over, the man had told him the name of the place was Darkholme, and that Friday nights were themed; he believed this particular Friday was Country Night, so Logan would 'pass muster.'

Logan nearly rolled his eyes at the thought. In his experience, bars that had theme nights leaned more toward being clubs than bars and were aimed at a younger crowd. But if that was the case and it was enough to make him feel out of place, there was nothing to stop him from asking the bartender about places in the area that would better suit him. He'd make sure to tip them well for the information.

There was a gas station next to the motel, and Logan stopped there first to fill the motorcycle's tank. When he had checked into a room that looked remarkably similar to many rooms he'd stayed in while in Canada, Logan decided to take a quick shower before heading to Darkholme. He'd driven through the last couple days without stopping for more than a meal and a nap in the cab of the truck on the side of the road. Now that he could, he wanted to get rid of his travel grime.

Feeling refreshed, Logan threw on his last set of clean clothes… he really needed to do laundry… and headed out. Though the bar was definitely within walking distance, he rode the bike over in case he ended up going somewhere else. The parking lot of the bar was rather full, but luckily there was a separate section set aside for motorcycles that still had a few spaces open. Logan parked in the free spot as close to the entrance as he could get, not wanting to tempt fate after all this time and have something happen to Scott's bike a mere day before the other man got it back.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that one of the motorcycles down the line, a Harley, had a vanity plate that read 'ROGUE2.' A smirk curved his lips at the irony, but he knew it couldn't be Marie's. Xavier may be rich, but there was no way he had enough money to buy all of the kids that lived at the mansion a vehicle, and Xavier was the type that if he bought something for one of his students he'd feel obligated to buy it for all of them to show that he didn't have favorites.

There was one large guy sitting on a stool outside of the door to the club. As Logan approached, he got up and opened the door to yell inside.

"Hey, Pete, you got the list?"

Another, taller man appeared in the now open doorway, a clipboard in hand. His blue eyes locked on Logan when he lifted his gaze. An indefinable look filled the bouncer's eyes and Logan had the odd sensation that he was being weighed and measured.

"We can let him in," he finally answered the doorman. "A handful of people from the list didn't show up."

The first guy nodded, turning to Logan. "Ten dollar cover charge."

Logan pulled out his wallet, pausing in the act of pulling out a ten to ask, "They carry Molson's in there?"

There was no point to paying a cover charge if they didn't even carry his beer. He could always just ask these two where the next nearest bar was. The one called Pete seemed to find his question funny, amusement twisting his mouth before he answered, his Russian accent more noticeable to Logan than it had been the first time he spoke.

"We don't get a lot of call for Molson's, but the boss always makes sure we have it on hand."

Logan nodded his acknowledgement and handed the cover charge to the guy whose name hadn't been mentioned. Both of them stepped out of the way to let him into the bar, but as he passed them, Logan could feel the Russian's eyes still on him. It was disconcerting, but he decided to ignore it. The guy hadn't seemed hostile, just… odd.

Doing a visual sweep of the interior, Logan felt more at ease when he realized there was a wide range of people inside. Some were even obvious mutants, and the ages seemed to range from young twenties to mid forties. There were three bars in different areas of the interior, and Logan headed for the largest one. If they only carried a limited supply of Molson's, it would make sense for it to be located at the main bar.

As he walked he took in the interior. There were padded booths around some of the perimeter, smaller tables with movable chairs scattered here and there. There was a dance floor with a slightly raised stage, currently sporting a DJ and impressive turntable setup, about halfway down the room. Two jukeboxes, both turned off if the lack of lights was any indication, were against a wall in a way that made Logan think they'd been pushed out of the way. In a few places in the back section of the large, long room there were sets of pool cues on the wall. They didn't look like decoration, but there were no pool tables in sight. Another odd thing on one of the walls was a portrait of a young girl. Shaking his head, Logan reminded himself that he'd seen bars in Canada with much odder wall décor.

Logan got to the bar and ordered his drink, taking note of a temporary sign propped against one shelf that warned that any person under twenty one caught not wearing their wristband would be permanently banned from Darkholme. When the bartender brought him his bottle, he asked about the sign, learning that club nights, which happened Fridays and Saturdays, were the only time eighteen to twenty year olds were allowed entrance.

Leaning against the counter, Logan scanned the nearby dance floor. A fast paced country song from a few years back was playing over the bar/club's speakers, and many of the people on the floor were line dancing. His eyes drifted over the crowd, catching on a flash of white on a brunette next to a curly-haired redhead. The young woman swiveled through one of the dance's moves, and Logan almost dropped his beer when he saw that it was indeed his Marie. Dressed in boots, tight jeans and a western shirt with the first several buttons undone, his dog tag easily visible resting on her chest, she looked good enough to eat before the crowd once more blocked her from his view. Swallowing the rest of his beer in one long pull, Logan plunked the bottle down on the wooden counter and headed for the dance floor.

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_He's here_, Erik suddenly spoke in Rogue's mind.

'Who?' Rogue asked, stiffening at the sudden fear that Magneto had escaped and had decided to punish her for living in his house and becoming close with his children.

_Calm down, darlin',_ her inner Logan growled comfortingly. _His warning would have been more along the lines of 'Run' if there were any danger_.

_Think, my dear_, Erik commanded. _Who would _I _be able to tell was here_?

Rogue's heart skipped a beat before thundering faster than normal. _He_ was here? After all this time, he was finally back? Of all the scenarios she had imagined, for some reason meeting the Wolverine face to face for the first time in two years in the crowded surroundings of her club had never been one of them.

"Logan?" she whispered aloud.

Wanda turned her head and frowned, having apparently just barely heard her. She leaned closer so Rogue would hear her over the music but no one else would. Though most of the clientele knew that the owner and some of the employees of Darkholme were mutants, no one outside of her adoptive mother and her friends (and Xavier and the X-Men) knew that Rogue had voices in her head. She wanted it to stay that way, and Wanda respected that.

"The one in your head? Is something wrong?"

Shaking her head, Rogue turned to anxiously survey the part of the crowd she could see from her position on Darkholme's dance floor. She didn't see him, and it took her a moment longer to think clearly enough to realize that if Erik had felt Logan, it had to have been via the metal grafted to his skeleton. Concentrating, she found the presence of adamantium several feet to her left. Spinning in that direction, Rogue's lips parted as she sucked in an anticipatory breath. The crowd separated, whether by chance or because of Logan's raw masculine presence, and their eyes met.

Rogue's mouth curved into a warm, welcoming smile, and she had to force herself to remain in her spot when he smiled back. It wouldn't do for the owner of the club to tackle a guest in an over-exuberant hug. And she wasn't even sure she'd be able to stop there. A combination of sheer happiness, excitement and anxiety was thrumming through her veins, her skin… every part of her. She wanted so much to be close to him that her control over magnetic fields snapped on for a second before she turned it off.

Luckily it wasn't long or strong enough to do more than put a slight amount of pull on the metal closest to her. Evidently the people near her didn't notice. The fast paced song that she and Wanda had been line dancing to before Erik's observation ended, and the DJ working that night announced the last slow song before the night's event, telling couples to take their places on the floor. Rogue wondered if she should head toward Logan and pull him off the dance floor so they could talk, but before she could, Logan was in front of her.

Logan's eyes traveled down her body and back up, a warm, almost hungry-looking smile curving his lips and sending a shiver down her spine. Her own smile slid into a happy grin, and she took a step toward him. Logan reached toward her, but dropped his hand when someone stepped between them.

"Come on, chere," Remy said loudly enough that Logan had no choice but to hear, even if he hadn't had enhanced senses. "You can dance with Gambit over here where no one bother us."

Rogue planted her feet firmly when Remy tried to lead her away by grasping her elbow. Thanks to her super strength, he wouldn't be able to budge her, no matter how hard he pulled. She knew he meant well, and that was the only reason she wasn't hurting him. Anytime a customer just wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to her or Wanda (or the other female employees of Darkholme), Pietro, Remy or one of the others would step in and draw that particular woman away so there would be less fuss. Remy had no way of actually knowing that Rogue had absolutely no intention of saying no to this man he'd never met.

"This is _my_ dance, bub." There was a hard edge to Logan's voice that told Rogue the claws were going to come out if Remy didn't back off, fast.

She, too, wanted Remy out of the way as quickly as possible. He was wasting valuable time that she could be spending in Logan's arms, even if it was just a dance.

"Rem, I appreciate you trying to help, but back off right now and I promise I _will_ dance with you later."

Surprise showed in his red-on-black eyes and Remy nodded briefly before moving away. She had only ever danced with him once before, and it had been cut short when his hands had wandered. She had refused to dance with him since, but right then she would have promised just about anything to get him out of the way. Logan watched Remy move away through narrowed eyes, but his gaze cleared and turned to lock on hers when she lightly touched his arm with a glove-covered hand.

"Hi, Logan," she said softly with a smile.

"Hey, darlin'," he greeted in return, threading the fingers of his right hand with those of her left and pulling her closer with his other arm.

He kept his hold light at first, giving her the opportunity to put more space between them if she so desired. She didn't. The thrill of seeing him after so long and being so close had Rogue melting into him. At her action, Logan's smile became almost predatory and his arm tightened around her before they both began to move. There was only so much room on the fairly crowded dance floor, but Rogue didn't mind their movements being hampered to a slow shuffling version of a two step.

It made the situation feel even more special, more intimate… as if it could never be classified as a simple dance. Logan's eyes searched hers, the hazel darkening the longer he looked at her. For her part, Rogue was sure that despite all the various powers and abilities she had, she would have melted completely to the floor if she hadn't been held up by both Logan's grip and keeping her own on his shoulder with her free hand. Feeling bold, Rogue snuggled closer and dragged her hand slowly from his shoulder down his muscular arm and to his waist, which she then snaked her arm around.

Logan's arm at _her_ waist moved, caressed, until his large, warm hand was resting at the small of her back. Leading the hand holding his to join the other at his waist, Logan lifted his fingers to stroke her white streak in a move reminiscent of when he'd left Xavier's. But this time instead of dropping his hand and turning away, he cupped the side of her face over the curtain of her hair, tipping her head up to look directly into his eyes. His gaze pinning hers in place, Logan ran his hand from her jawline to her neck, over the roundness of her shoulder, and to her back.

Instead of surrounded…which is what she usually felt when someone stayed in her personal space too long… Rogue felt completely embraced by Logan, and she loved it. Inside her head, Erik was disdainful over how quickly she was re-opening her heart to Logan, but her inner Wolverine was growling happily, nearly completely drowning out the other man. The real Logan executed a quick spin when an apparently drunk young man nearly tripped his own date into Rogue.

The move, coupled with the fact that their bodies were already pressed tightly to each other, resulted in their legs tangling, though not in a bad way. Each had a thigh captured by both of their partner's legs. When she moved against him a bit provocatively, Logan moved his hand from the small of her back to the seat of her skin-tight jeans, drawing her harder against him. Rogue explored his back with searching fingers, clinging when she found the muscles bunched over his shoulder blades.

The large hand on her back, the one not holding Rogue intimately against him, slid up to cup the back of her head, tilting her head to the side when his own dipped slightly to allow Logan to bury his face in the hair near her ear. He nuzzled her gently, causing her toes to curl and her eyes to flutter closed for a moment.

"Marie." It was barely loud enough for her to hear, but it still had more of an effect on her than anyone else yelling her name would have.

The one word claim, for she couldn't help feeling that it was what he meant, was deep and throaty, more of a growl than normal human speech would allow. Rogue's insides turned to liquid heat, and she almost whimpered when Logan pulled his head back to meet her eyes once more with his own. There was a fierce hunger, a need, in his darkened eyes that Rogue's soul leapt to try and meet, fulfill. He must have seen it in her eyes, because he dipped his head again, slower this time, and Rogue's heart started hammering triple time when she realized he was coming straight at her instead of turning to one side or the other.

"Just for a second." Logan breathed the phrase against her lips in a gruff whisper, and Rogue wasn't sure if he was reminding and warning himself or reassuring her.

But before his lips could meet hers or she could concentrate enough to only draw on his mutation (she already had that and therefore didn't feel it necessary to stop first and ask for permission to take it) so they could kiss for _more_ than a second, the song they had been dancing to ended and someone fumbled the mic used for Karaoke Night, inadvertently causing a high pitched mechanical screech that had both she and Logan flinching visibly. It completely spoiled the mood, and Rogue moved back a step, smiling apologetically.

Logan raised a questioning eyebrow at her and Rogue told him, "There's something I have to do for a few minutes, but we can catch up after."

"Alright," Logan nodded.

When she moved to step away from him, Logan caught her hand in his and raised it to press his lips to her covered knuckles. She could feel the warmth of this kiss through the thin silk of her glove and wished momentarily that they were alone. With a shy but happy smile to Logan, she turned and headed for Wanda.

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Logan let Marie go reluctantly, only stopping himself from tugging her back to him by reminding himself that they had time. It also helped that she was obviously happy. This was the reason he had left her here: so she could have a life. Now that he was back, he would simply find a way to fit into it. He had no doubt after what had just passed between them that she would be willing to meet him halfway. And though he could never regret what they had just shared, maybe in the middle of a crowd hadn't been the best place for it. He would never forgive himself if Marie thought she was just another woman to him simply because he'd gotten carried away despite being in public. He had never cared what people thought of his private life before, but he wouldn't let anyone think less of her because of him.

Feeling hostile eyes boring into him, Logan shifted his gaze away from Marie to note the presence about fifteen feet away of the young man who had tried earlier to draw Marie away from him. There was another young man with the first, this one with silver hair. The silver-haired youth was simply watching him curiously; the hostility was only coming from the one with red on black eyes. They were almost assuredly mutants and Logan wondered briefly if they were from Xavier's. Deciding to simply ignore them, Logan turned his attention back to Marie.

She had made her way to the small, raised stage and was talking quietly to the young woman she'd been dancing next to when he had first seen her. The redhead moved to stand before the mic on the stage, announcing the rules of the night's karaoke contest. Logan inwardly groaned. He'd been stuck in a bar during a blizzard once where the owner had pulled out a simple karaoke machine in an effort to distract the people stuck there. But to Logan's enhanced hearing, giving someone with a bad voice a microphone was exceedingly close to torture. He was going to have to leave earlier than he wanted to. Logan reminded himself once more that they had time.

When she was done with her spiel, the young woman introduced 'Rogue.' Marie took the mic and thanked the crowd for their applause before the instrumental of a popular new country song started playing. Logan was pleasantly surprised by Marie's singing voice. She'd never be given a recording contract or anything, but she had a decent voice. Logan stayed in place through two thirds of the song, catching Marie's eye and giving her a slow wink before turning and heading for the exit.

Most of the inhabitants of the club were moving toward the stage or already standing around it, so it took a little effort to reach the front door. The guy who'd let him in was now inside, sitting on his stool and facing the stage. Of 'Pete' there was no sign. As Logan passed, the bouncer nodded a good-bye. Stopping just outside the door, Logan breathed in deeply, something he did to clear his nose when leaving a place full of people, and therefore scents.

On impulse, he walked past Scott's bike and down to the Harley he had noticed before entering the club. Stopping next to it, he inhaled purposefully, catching Marie's scent on the motorcycle. Lifting one brow, he wondered if she had gotten a well-paying job or if he had just been wrong about Xavier. He still didn't think that was the case, there was no "X" logo anywhere on the motorcycle like their had been on every vehicle at the school that he'd seen. Either way, it was a nice machine, and he looked forward to being able to ride on it with her when he returned Scott's motorcycle to its owner.

"Soon, darlin'," he promised Marie… and himself… gruffly.

Making his way back to Scott's bike, Logan got on and headed for his motel. The night was still relatively young, but he'd gotten more than he expected out of his trip to Darkholme and he didn't feel the need to go anywhere else. He fell asleep slowly, drifting into heated dreams of what his and Marie's reunion could have been if it had occurred in a more private place.

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"So that was the famous Wolverine," Wanda remarked as the two of them left the stage, leaving it and the mic to the night's first contestant.

Rogue smiled softly. "Yes, that was him."

"I'm sure you're eager to see him again as soon as possible," Wanda said in a heavily hinting tone. "Are you going to go to Xavier's tonight and finish what you started?"

Rogue blushed slightly, knowing if Wanda had been watching them that closely when they were dancing, Pietro and Remy… and probably some of the regulars who knew she didn't usually get that close to men (or anyone for that matter)… would have been as well. She hadn't been thinking of anything but Logan when she'd been in his arms. Rogue smiled to herself and felt the blush fade from her face. It had been wonderful and she wasn't going to let the memory of it be dimmed by the fact that others had been watching and judging. They hadn't done anything wrong. Rogue frowned. Well, _she_ hadn't anyway.

"No, I… I'm not ready to deal with all the questions he's going to have," Rogue answered quietly. "And the way he left… no self respecting woman would go chasing after a man who doesn't even say goodbye when he's leaving."

Wanda looped an arm around Rogue's shoulders. "I'm sure he had a reason. The way he was looking at you when you were dancing…" a delicate shudder ran through Wanda's body, "he's definitely interested. But, you're right, you shouldn't chase after him… let him come to you."

Rogue nodded, but inside she was very nervous. How much would talking to Xavier and the X-Men turn him against her? Would he even want to, as Wanda had put it, _finish what they started_ when he found out everything that had happened while he'd been gone? Maybe she should have found a way to make sure she told her side of things first, but part of her wanted to know who he would believe, the X-Men or her, and the only way to truly know that would be to let him ask her what had _really_ happened after hearing their version of events.

_I hope your faith in his trust is well-placed, my dear_, Erik observed. _Charles can be very _persuasive,_ especially when it suits his agenda_.

_Something you have in common_, her inner Logan scoffed.

'Boys,' Rogue berated them firmly, feeling a headache coming on. 'Please, not here.'

Thankfully they fell silent and Rogue turned her attention back to the participants in tonight's contest, her thoughts only drifting to Logan every few seconds.

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As Mystique strode into the Oval Office in the form of Senator Robert Kelly, she could overhear the President speaking with the other man in the room. Considering the fact that the President had been attacked by a mutant the day before and she was living the life of a man who had once been the leading anti-mutant Senator, it didn't take much to guess what the meeting would be about, but she hadn't been informed about who the other attendee would be.

"And somehow I thought you were here to talk about school reform," the President said.

"Funny you should say that, Mr. President," the other man answered.

As Mystique stepped fully into the room, she smiled at the President.

He smiled back. "Senator."

"Mr. President," she greeted as she shook the Commander In Chief's hand. "Thank you for having me."

"Senator Kelly, this is Colonel William Stryker."

"How do you do?" Mystique politely inquired while inwardly nervous.

This short, older man made her a bit uneasy. His eyes were slightly dead behind his glasses and the easily recognizable gleam of zealous hatred was the only life she could see in him.

"His department has been dealing with the mutant phenomenon since… before my time," the President explained.

"As I recall," Stryker said to 'Kelly', "you were a staunch supporter of the Registration Act, Senator. But it seems your ideas on the mutant problem have changed."

"For the best, I hope," Mystique replied, keeping the same pleasant expression on her borrowed face with difficulty. She sat down on one of the sofas perpendicular to the President's desk. "So, what are you proposing, Mr. Stryker?"

"Uh, may I, Mr. President?" Stryker asked.

At the President's nod, Stryker spread out a few folders on the table between them, handing one to the President, who leaned back against his desk.

Stryker began his pitch, "We've managed to gather evidence of a mutant training facility in the Salem region of upstate New York."

Mystique's heart almost stopped until she saw that it was Xavier's school and not the mansion her daughter currently lived in. Not that she wished ill on the people who had saved Marie from Magneto… at least not of that magnitude… but she knew they were better equipped to repel whatever the Colonel had planned than the few mutants currently in residence at the Brotherhood House. And the further Marie stayed from Stryker and vice versa, the better. He might only be human, but Mystique knew danger when it stared her in the face.

While Mystique had almost been completely lost in her thoughts, the President had picked up a photo of the building and asked, "Where did you get this information?"

"Interrogation of one of the mutant terrorists from the Liberty Island incident," Stryker answered without apology.

"Erik?" Mystique found herself asking with a bit too much excitement. "Erik Lensherr?" Both of the other men looked at her oddly, but Mystique pressed on. There was no sense in backing down now. "You have access to him?"

"Magneto. Yes," Stryker drawled, still frowning at 'him'. "We developed the technology that built his plastic prison."

To draw attention away from her slip, Mystique leaned forward, lifting one of the long distance photos of Xavier's school.

"This facility is a school," she dismissed breezily.

"Sure it is."

As he made his flat remark, Stryker dropped an aerial x-ray surveillance photo on top of the others. The Blackbird was the main focus of the shot.

"What the hell is that?" the President asked.

"A jet."

"What kind of jet?" the President pushed for more details from Stryker.

"We don't know, but it comes up out of the basketball court."

The President stood up straight and moved away from them toward the window, rubbing his forehead.

Stryker pressed his advantage, "If we'd been allowed to do our jobs before this incident..."

"Alright, listen," the President interrupted. "William, you enter, you detain, you question, but the last thing we need to see is the body of a mutant kid on the six o'clock news."

Stryker smiled smugly at 'Senator Kelly'.

Mystique smiled back, inwardly wishing she could reach out and strike the man down where he sat. He didn't care one whit about the President's safety. She didn't think his concern was why a private citizen had a military grade jet either. This was about something bigger. And she was going to find out what.

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Mystique waited only until Stryker had left the Oval Office before asking the President about the mutant that had attacked him. When she heard his description, she knew without a doubt that something was very, _very_ wrong.

She easily caught up with Stryker in the hall. He had an Asian woman in a fitted gray jacket and pants with him. She was wearing sunglasses indoors. Mystique was momentarily reminded of Scott Summers.

"Mr. Stryker," 'Kelly' called.

"Senator Kelly," Stryker responded, waiting for the Senator to catch up before introducing, "This is Yuriko, my personal assistant."

Mystique reached out a hand to shake Yuriko's; it was always good to get more templates. The woman's grip was firm, much firmer than it should be for a human female her size and build. Yuriko was undoubtedly a mutant. But why would a mutant help a mutant-hating human… unless she didn't have a choice?

"Quite a handshake," Mystique commented.

Yuriko did not reply.

"What can I do for you?" Stryker asked as he began walking again.

'Die a slow, painful death,' Mystique thought maliciously as she followed him down the hall. Aloud she answered, "Uh, Erik Lensherr's prison. I'd like to arrange a visit if possible."

Stryker stopped walking. "It isn't a petting zoo, Senator. In this conflict, he is the enemy." Stryker clapped a hand on Kelly's arm, "You're just a spectator. So why don't you just sit this one out, all right?"

As Stryker walked away again, Mystique couldn't help but try to push his buttons, "Conflict? Mr. Stryker, do you really want to turn this into some kind of war?"

Stryker stopped and stalked back to 'Kelly', invading the Senator's personal space in his fervor, "I was piloting block ops missions in the jungles of North Vietnam while you were sucking on your mama's tit at Woodstock, Kelly. Don't lecture me about war. This already is a war."

Mystique watched silently as Stryker disappeared from view. She felt her control slip infinitesimally and her eyes flash. Before this was over, she would make sure that man got what was coming to him.

Thanks to the handshake shared with Yuriko, Mystique would be able to genetically copy the other mutant down to her fingerprints and hopefully get into Stryker's personal offices. But first she had a call to make.

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Remy looked up from where he was bent over the pool table when Rogue's cell phone went off. Wanda, who had been watching Rogue and Remy compete at eight ball and had called a game with the winner, took Rogue's cue stick so the other young woman could answer her cell. There were very few people who had the number, and Rogue had been half-expecting a call from Mystique since the previous day's news about the attack on the White House.

Rogue answered the phone after the second ring. "Hello?"

"Marie," Mystique greeted swiftly. "I don't have a lot of time to talk, but I needed to tell you that a man by the name of Colonel Stryker has received permission to attack Xavier's school and detain anyone inside. You may want to warn them to be prepared, though leaving may be their best option since he has authorization. He has schematics of the building and knows about the Blackbird, he may know more but that's all the information I have for now."

"My God," Rogue said softly. "I'll go and warn them as soon as I can."

"There's one other thing," Mystique added, a hesitant note in her voice. "Your brother was the mutant who attacked the President."

"But... that's impossible, isn't it?" Rogue asked. "He isn't violent."

"Which is why I think a non-mutant may somehow be behind the attack to make mutants look bad and worsen the current political situation. That or another mutant with a mind control ability was using Kurt."

Rogue sighed, "Is there any way to find him? He's going to need to be protected."

"Not yet," Mystique answered, her voice frustrated. "I'll call you again when I know more."

"Alright, Mama, and thanks."

Rogue hung up her cell phone after saying goodbye. Wanda was waiting for an explanation while Remy was doing his best not to look too interested and failing miserably.

"There's going to be an attack on Xavier's school," Rogue told them. "The President gave some military jerk permission to detain the residents. I have to warn the X-Men."

Remy swore colorfully in French. Wanda bit her lip.

"Who was the 'he' you talked about protecting? It couldn't have been Piotr, we all know he's at Xavier's."

"Kurt," Rogue answered Wanda's question. She had told her friends more than a year ago about her foster brother and her desire to meet him. "He's… he's the mutant who attacked the President. But Mama lost track of him when he left Germany several months ago, so we don't know where he is."

"Gambit sorry, chere," Remy said gently. "Gambit know how much family mean to you."

Rogue ignored the endearment as usual and nodded. "Thanks, Rem."

"You want me to go with you?" Wanda asked.

"No, that's okay," Rogue answered. "I'm just going to go now, maybe spend a little time with Piotr before I come home. Try to talk him into coming back with me and staying here for a little while. They should have at least a couple days before the military operation goes into effect; it takes time to plan things like that."

"If you're going to go alone, at least do me a favor," Wanda pled. "Wear your uniform under your clothes."

Rogue hugged the woman who had become the closest thing to a sister she had. "I will."

"Be careful, chere," Remy added as Rogue left the room. "Remember, you still owe Gambit a dance."

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Piotr finished his sketch at one of the tables in the rec room as John and Bobby played a video game while sitting on a nearby couch. The two teens kept nudging each other while playing, trying to distract the other long enough to win. Piotr lifted the drawing to show it to Jamie, who was sitting next to him working on homework. Jamie laughed at the cartoon of John tying up Bobby with a game controller cord and kissing him. John looked over and flipped Piotr and Jamie off.

John's distraction was just what Bobby needed to win the round of their game, and John swore at his defeat and left the room. Bobby soon followed. The school's doorbell rang a few minutes later and Piotr stood.

"Watch my tablet?" he asked Jamie, who nodded in response.

Piotr pulled open the door to find a nervous-looking Rogue standing on the other side. He smiled widely and ushered her in. Rogue smiled back instantly. Piotr knew Rogue was glad he had been the one to answer the door. She had been back to the mansion only occasionally since the incident with Ms. Marvel nearly a year and a half ago, and it had always been quick visits, usually to pick him up or bring him something. As had become habit between them, Piotr picked her bodily off the floor in a bear hug while they kissed each other's cheek.

"I am happy to see you again so soon, my prekasnia drook," Piotr said as he set her back on her feet. "But I imagine you are here for another reason?"

"I need to…"

Rogue was interrupted by the door opening behind them. Piotr knew their conversation would definitely be put on hold once he saw who it was.

To be continued… 

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**Russian phrase translation:**

_prekasnia_ means wonderful or beautiful, Piotr probably meant both in this instance

_drook_ means friend


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

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Rogue couldn't deny that she was happy to see Logan again, especially when she noted the backpack slung over one shoulder. Wherever he had stayed last night, it hadn't been here at the School… he hadn't had any chance to find out about the choices she'd made in the two years he'd been gone. But she was still a little hurt and unsure about why he had left Darkholme without saying anything, so she decided to play it as if they hadn't just seen each other. As if last night hadn't happened.

"Logan," she greeted with a smile.

When he smiled back, she walked forward to hug him.

"Miss me, kid?" Logan asked

Nearly flinching from being addressed with that particular nickname, especially after last night, Rogue read affection but nothing more in his voice. She didn't have the heart to even consider delving into his mind to see what he was feeling. Besides, she knew how he felt about telepaths. Maybe she had imagined that whatever had been in his eyes as he looked at her in the club had been what she had wanted to see. Maybe it hadn't been what she thought.

"Not really," she lied blatantly with a smile, while thinking, 'If I jumped you right here in the hall, would you think I had?'

"Mm," he made a disbelieving sound but didn't call her on her bluff.

His gaze raked over her from head to foot, and Rogue had to resist the urge to do a twirl for him. She had filled out nicely being consistently cared for, and she was in excellent shape thanks to constant training, but she was also sure that he had gotten a good look last night. Not that she was going to stop him from admiring the view. She was doing the same thing herself.

"How you doing?"

She smiled wider, somehow oddly amused by the inane chitchat. Two could play at this game.

"I'm okay. How are you?"

Logan didn't answer her question, his eyes instead going to Piotr hovering protectively beside her.

"Who's this?"

Rogue smiled up at Piotr. "This is Piotr, a very good friend of mine. He's also known as Colossus."

"Just a good friend?" Logan asked.

Rogue heard only curiosity in the question and not jealousy, which disappointed her somewhat, even though she knew it would be harder if he _were _jealous since Piotr was an important part of her life and she needed Logan to accept that fact.

But Storm started coming down the main stairs, and Logan's attention was diverted elsewhere. Rogue willed herself into the background so her presence wouldn't be remarked upon. She knew the questions about why she hadn't stayed where Logan had left her would have to be answered, but she wasn't ready for the inquisition to begin just yet. She had other things to worry about.

"Look who's come back," Storm remarked, looking straight at Logan as she said it. "Just in time."

"For what?" Logan asked.

"We need a babysitter," Storm responded with a smile.

Rogue almost laughed at the thought of Logan babysitting a house full of mutant children, but secretly she wondered why Piotr wasn't being asked to handle it. He was a teacher, and nearly the same age as Scott. Did Piotr's friendship with her still color the X-Men's trust in him? Actually, it wasn't fair to lump all three of the other X-Men together.

Scott still trusted her, the relaxed, friendly atmosphere of their continued monthly meetings, and all the times they ran into each other outside of them, told her that much. He had also come into Darkholme a few more times when Jean had been busy with her political or medical responsibilities. Storm was perfectly civil to her, though Rogue didn't know if Storm actually trusted her. Jean, on the other hand… Rogue was pretty sure Jean wouldn't waste the water necessary to cry at her grave. But it didn't exactly bother Rogue; the feeling was mutual.

"A babysitter?" Logan echoed.

Storm smiled again, and Rogue realized the weather witch had been, at least in part, teasing him. "Nice to see you again, Logan."

"Hi, Logan," another female voice said from the stairs.

Everyone turned his or her head to look at Jean. She smiled warmly but only had eyes for Logan.

_Ah, yes,_ Erik commented in Rogue's head. _And here comes the woman who wouldn't open a gate to help save you_.

'Hush,' Rogue responded, though she was slightly amused at Erik's defensiveness of her in these environs.

"Uh, I should go and get the jet ready," Storm said by way of a goodbye as she left.

Piotr took the opening to say goodbye for himself and Rogue, knowing she wouldn't want to stand there with Jean.

"It was a pleasure to meet you," he said to Logan. Piotr grasped Rogue's hand and pulled her toward the rec room, "Come on, let's go."

"Bye, Logan," Rogue called as she let Piotr drag her away. "I'll see you later."

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"Okay."

Logan watched Marie leave the entryway with the tall Russian. He couldn't help the twinge of jealousy he felt when he realized that Piotr was "Pete" the bouncer from the club the night before. It must have been how Marie was able to get in without the requisite wristband worn by the under twenty-one set. _Was_ Piotr more than just a friend? He vaguely remembered the name from the time he had called to check on Marie more than a year ago. Any young male that remained close with a woman that long had to be interested in the long haul. The real question was, _was Marie_?

When he'd walked into the school to see her standing in the entry hall, he'd had to pull tight on the Wolverine's reins to stop from immediately dragging her back into his arms. He had been able to hold her, touch her over the safety of her clothes when they'd been in the club the night before, but Xavier's school wasn't the place for such behavior, at least not in front of everyone. Who knows what kind of trouble he'd get her in with Xavier if he gave in to his impulses. They would have plenty of time to talk and get reacquainted now that he was back, and he'd make sure they had the opportunity to be more private off of Xavier's property… _soon_ if the Wolverine had anything to say about it.

He would have been back to the School sooner, especially after last night, but the tire shop'd had a frantic young mother as a customer soon after opening. The woman had three kids in her minivan that were all equally, and quite vocally, unhappy about the unplanned stop, so Logan hadn't put up a fuss when the workers at the tire shop had moved her to being the first job they took care of. It was late afternoon now, almost early evening, but the way Rogue had been dressed, a jacket over her long-sleeved shirt, and the fact that she had headed into the School rather than out of it, let him know that she had been out earlier, so his timing had been good. He hadn't seen her Harley when he'd parked his truck in the garage and unloaded Scott's motorcycle from the back, but maybe she'd parked somewhere else.

Jean had made it down the stairs, and now she told him, interrupting his thoughts, "Storm and I are heading to Boston. We won't be long. The Professor wants us to track down a mutant who attacked the President."

"So it _was_ a mutant?" Logan asked rhetorically.

"You'll be here when we get back," Jean commented flirtatiously as if he had just asked to spend hours catching up with her instead of making an offhand comment. "Unless you plan on running off again."

Logan thought of last night's not-quite-innocent dance and a small smile curved his lips, "Well, I can probably think of a few reasons to stick around."

"Find what you were looking for, Logan?" Scott asked as he descended the stairs.

Logan watched the other man's progress. "More or less."

More questions, less answers. It wasn't technically a lie. Not that he cared about being completely truthful with One-Eye. There was just something about self-righteous, overgrown boy scouts that rubbed him the wrong way.

Scott stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Jean headed in his direction. The door that was the first necessary step in the direction of the Blackbird's hangar was behind Scott. It was the way Storm had gone mere minutes before.

"I'll see you boys later," Jean said.

Scott said softly to her, "Be safe, okay?"

"You, too."

They kissed briefly, and with a small wave and a goodbye to Logan, Jean was gone.

Logan smirked when Scott simply stood and glared at him. At least he assumed the other man was glaring behind his special glasses. It certainly felt like it.

"Aren't you going to welcome me home?" Logan prodded.

Stony silence.

"Your bike needs gas," he lied easily.

He tossed the keys to the motorcycle he had 'borrowed' two years before to Scott, who caught them. The tank wasn't completely full because of driving to the motel and Darkholme the night before and then back to the tire shop today, but it was still nearly so.

"Then fill 'er up," Scott ordered, tossing the keys right back.

Scott turned and left, and Logan smiled. It was so easy to push Scott's buttons; it almost took the fun out of it.

Almost.

Logan headed in the direction of Cerebro, a mental nudge from the Professor telling him that it was where the other man would be. He lit a cigar on the way, hoping to get a rise out of 'Chuck' as well. Xavier was already wheeling out to where the console was when Logan joined him inside Cerebro. The doors slid shut behind him.

"Logan, my tolerance for your smoking in the mansion notwithstanding," Xavier said dryly, "continue smoking that in here and you'll spend the rest of your days under the belief that you are a six-year-old girl."

"You'd do that?" Logan asked, looking at the cigar in his hand, measuring its worth.

"I'd have Jean braid your hair," Xavier deadpanned.

Logan thought about saying 'only if Marie gets to give me my baths', but he realized quickly that if he thought he was a six-year-old girl it wouldn't do him any good. Logan raised his eyebrows and looked around for a place to put out his cigar.

Xavier said a bit more cheerfully, "Welcome back."

Logan put his cigar out on his palm. He watched the wound heal as Xavier placed the helmet-type device that connected him to the machine on his head. For a moment, the shape of it reminded Logan unpleasantly of Magneto's helmet.

"You want me to leave?" he asked.

"No," Xavier answered. "Just, don't move." Cerebro shifted as Xavier concentrated, and he began explaining the new images to Logan in a calm tone, "These lights represent every living person on the planet. The white lights are humans. And these," he continued as red lights appeared, some of them shaped as female and male figures, "are the mutants. Through Cerebro, I'm connected to them. And they to me. You see Logan? We're not as alone as you think."

Ignoring the comment that was probably meant to coerce him into joining the X-Men on a permanent level, Logan said, "I found the base at Alkali Lake. There was nothing there."

Xavier, in turn, ignored what Logan hadn't actually come out and asked.

"The broken line represents the path of the mutant who attacked the President. I've been finding it difficult to get a lock on him."

"Well, can't you just concentrate harder?" Logan asked, getting more bored by the second.

He might have helped "save the world" when he was last here, but that'd had everything to do with saving Marie and next to nothing to do with the humans who would have been affected by Magneto's machine. The only way he would get involved this time was if it was necessary to keep Marie safe, and he didn't see what a mutant being after the President of the United States could possibly have to do with her.

"If I wanted to kill him, yes. There. Looks like he's finally stopped running."

There was a brief, dark image of a male crouched down, a rosary hanging from his clenched hands and German spilling from his lips. A prayer... though how Logan had been able to recognize the words as German and understand them wasn't something he knew. The image disappeared and Cerebro returned to its dormant state as Xavier took the connecting device off his head.

"I need you to read my mind again," Logan said firmly.

"Logan…" Xavier paused as he began wheeling toward the chamber's exit, "I'm afraid the result will be the same as before."

"We had a deal," Logan reminded him as he followed after.

For a man who was supposedly all about doing good and saving others, he didn't seem to be able to even simply keep his word to Logan.

"The mind is not a box that can be simply unlocked and opened. It's a beehive with a million different compartments..."

"Spare me the lecture."

"I have no doubt that your amnesia, your adamantium skeleton, your claws, are all somehow connected. But Logan, sometimes the mind needs to discover things for itself. I promise you we'll talk again when I return. Oh, and if you will be kind enough to watch over the children tonight, Scott and I are going to visit an old friend."

"Sure," Logan assented. He'd be there anyway, and he fully intended to protect Marie from any and all comers, so why not include the resident rug rats in his protection as well?

Xavier stopped and faced the wall, reaching forward to touch a small square. A panel slid open, revealing a computer console and a microphone. Xavier pressed a button that evidently activated the mic, and then began typing in information on the keyboard.

"I'm sending the coordinates of where the mutant seems to have settled for now. Soon as you find him, bring him back to the mansion."

"Let's hope he cooperates," Storm's voice came back to them.

"Yes," Xavier responded. "For his sake. Good luck."

When he was done sending the necessary information, Xavier closed the panel and began wheeling toward the elevator. Logan followed absently behind, wondering how Xavier could be so sure that Storm and Jean would prevail over a mutant who had dealt with the entire Secret Service and White House security and not been captured. The two women hadn't been all that effective at the Statue of Liberty.

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"Why _are_ you here?" Piotr asked Rogue when they were finally alone.

When they had reached the rec room after leaving Logan and the others in the entry hall, Kitty and Jubilee had been there. The two teen girls had been eager to ask Rogue when Darkholme would re-open. Both had been there the night before, Jubilee taking part in the karaoke contest and coming in third, winning more votes for showmanship than her voice. The group had talked for nearly an hour catching up before the two younger women had finagled their way into getting in to Darkholme free on their next visit.

Piotr and Rogue had retired to a corner of the empty library to talk alone once Kitty and Jubilee had gone to their room. Piotr sank into an overstuffed armchair and patted his lap. Rogue sat down and leaned her side into his chest, pulling off a glove as she did so. Piotr automatically laced his fingers through her ungloved ones and asked his question.

"Mama called me from Washington," she told him, tracing his larger hand absently with her free one. "There's a Colonel Stryker, heavily anti-mutant, who just this morning got permission to enter the school and detain the mutants inside. I came to warn Charles... er, Xavier."

She didn't refer to the Professor often out loud, so when she did, it was often someone else's name for him that came out. But Piotr knew that and therefore didn't comment on it.

"That kind of assault will take preparation, correct?" Piotr asked worriedly.

"I'm sure it will, especially with needing to be prepared to handle different powers," she answered. "I want you to come stay at the House. If they took you..."

She trailed off, a sad frown on her face. Piotr knew it was because she had a big heart and was worried about all of them, and not just him. But there was no way either side would want the entire population of Xavier's school staying in the Brotherhood House.

"I will leave with you tomorrow after we tell the Professor."

"Why tomorrow?" Rogue asked.

Piotr answered, "Scott and the Professor have gone to speak with Magneto to see if he knows anything about the attack on the President; they were scheduled to leave half an hour ago. Storm and Dr. Grey are also gone for the night."

Rogue sighed. "Guess I'll be staying the night then. I'll need to talk to them as soon as they get back."

"Do you want me to take you to one of the guest rooms?"

"No, I don't think I'll be able to sleep. I'll just stay in here."

Piotr nodded and the two friends sat together and talked for a couple more hours before Piotr headed for bed. Rogue called the House on her cell and left a message letting Wanda know about the change in plans. She found an interesting-looking book on a nearby shelf and settled in to read.

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Mystique walked in her guise as Senator Kelly through a moonlit courtyard. In preparation for her journey into Stryker's offices, she shifted forms into that of the woman known to her only as Yuriko.

As she walked down the hall, she passed a janitor, scanning him visually in case she needed a getaway disguise later. She walked purposefully to a hand scanner that allowed access to the inner offices and laid her palm on the device. The door slid open, and Mystique moved inside, shifting to her true form when she was sure she was alone.

She sat down at the computer with voice recognition equipment and imitated Stryker's voice to get into his files, smiling at the unexpected ease of her mission.

"Stryker, William."

Mystique immediately opened a file that indicated it held information on various mutants. It was obviously some kind of pre-Registration Act registry of the mutants the government did know about. Right above 'Lensherr, Erik' was 'LeBeau, Remy'. A few lines down 'Maximoff' with a '2' notation appeared. She clicked on Magneto's name first, finding the information about his cell and the guards employed by the prison he was being held in. She sent the information she needed to the printer before going back and clicking on the other Brotherhood members' names.

The information on Wanda and Pietro was minimal, listing a residence they had lived in with their adoptive family years ago. Gambit's information was also out of date, listing him as a member of the Guild of Thieves in New Orleans. It didn't list that several years ago he had become co-leader of the Unified Guilds of New Orleans, a combination of the Guild of Thieves and the Guild of Assassins; neither his arranged marriage to Bella nor his later leaving of the area were listed either.

Satisfied that her daughter's friends who happened to also be her own teammates weren't in any immediate danger, Mystique glanced over at the printer to check its progress. Her eyes landed on another computer screen and a folder that read 'Cerebro'. So Stryker _did _know about more inside Xavier's mansion than just the Blackbird.

Clicking on the folder, Mystique was surprised to find detailed schematics of Cerebro. How could he possibly have gotten this information? But a moment later she realized she already knew. He had gotten it from Magneto. Thinking of how much torture Magneto would endure before giving a human the knowledge to hurt another mutant… _any_ mutant, let alone Charles Xavier… Mystique became even more determined to end Stryker's existence.

Her eyes widened as she noticed a link at the bottom of the schematics that read 'Cerebro 2'. Clicking on it, she watched in fascination as plans for a second Cerebro chamber came up. Was there another mutant aside from Charles Xavier who would be able to use it to its full extent? Mystique pushed aside a mental image of Rogue, knowing that even if Stryker somehow knew Rogue had telepathic abilities, there was no way the government man would know that her daughter had copied Xavier's power. There were many telepaths in the world, but none as powerful as Xavier. Mystique sent the base of operations layout to the printer as well and clicked on the location link. Unfortunately, a small box showed up requesting a password.

With a sigh, Mystique gave up finding any more information, closing the files she had opened. She had been here longer than she had intended anyway. As the last few pages printed, she heard the unmistakable sound of the door to the office opening. Knowing she only had a few seconds, she grabbed the papers as the last one printed out and tossed them into a garbage can, shifting into the Hispanic male she had noticed in the hall earlier.

She had cut it close, the real Yuriko coming in a second later. She made an excuse for herself in Spanish and then English and quickly left. Mystique considered calling Rogue to update her about the Cerebro information, but guilt stopped her. She would be breaking Magneto out of jail as soon as she could, and she knew Rogue would be mad about it. So Mystique fell back on her loyalty to her leader and did not place the call to her daughter.

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_Champagne glasses clinked together. The figures holding the glasses and laughing were obscured, what he could see of them distorted and slightly off-color, like he was looking at them through green-tinged water. The scene shifted and someone was leaning over him, snapping off the other half of his dog tag which was Canadian in design though he somehow knew the man standing over him was American. Then pain and rage, memories of running naked down a tunnel with blood streaked on various parts of his body, his claws extended._

Logan sat up and worked to calm his breathing. The images from his nightmare were already fading, but he had no wish to relive them again. Knowing he would be unable to go back to sleep tonight, he stood, pulled on his boots and left his room. Still dressed in jeans and an off-white wife beater, he walked quietly downstairs and through the mansion. The sound of the television drew him to one of the recreation rooms.

A young boy, probably around eleven or twelve, with light brown hair and glasses sat watching the TV, the channels changing as he blinked his eyes.

"Can't sleep?" the boy asked.

Logan frowned, "How could you tell?"

"Cause you're awake," the kid said matter-of-factly when he glanced away from the TV for a moment.

'Duh,' Logan mentally scolded himself. Aloud, he said, "Right, what about you?"

"I _don't _sleep."

Logan wondered momentarily if that was part of the boy's mutation or if something had happened to the kid to make him unable to close his eyes and find solace.

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Bobby sat in the kitchen eating ice cream out of the container. John was still slightly mad at him for his lack of support at the museum the day before, and it was bothering Bobby. John had a temper, but he usually got over things faster than this. Bobby looked up as Logan walked into the kitchen.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Doesn't anybody sleep around here?" Logan asked.

Bobby realized Logan must have seen Doug in the rec room.

"Apparently not. I'm Iceman – Bobby – you probably don't remember me from your last trip."

"Weren't you the one Mystique pretended to be to get M… Rogue to run?"

Bobby flinched slightly and nodded at the hairy man's question. He had felt bad when he had learned that the shape-shifter had used his form to make Rogue feel unwelcome at the school. He had almost forgotten about the catalyst for the kidnapping that had made possible the Liberty Island incident two years ago. Trust the Wolverine, Rogue's rumored self-appointed protector, to make him remember. Though Bobby thought it was a bit odd for a man who had been gone without a word for two years to be worried about anyone.

Logan asked, "Got any beer?"

"This is a school," Bobby answered, amused.

"So that's a no?"

The Wolverine was obviously disappointed.

"Yeah, that's a no."

Bobby didn't think Professor Xavier would be happy if Bobby told Logan about the liquor cabinet in his office nor would Mr. Summers if because of him Logan raided the small refrigerator in the room Mr. Summers shared with Dr. Grey for beer.

Logan peered into the refrigerator before closing the door. "Got anything other than chocolate milk?"

Bobby pointed with his spoon. "There should be some soda in that small cupboard."

Logan took out a Dr. Pepper and walked back to the kitchen island Bobby was sitting on the other side of. When Logan started to lift the bottle to his mouth, Bobby held out a hand. Logan raised an eyebrow but handed the bottle over. Bobby blew on the mouth of the bottle, chilling the soda instantly.

"Thanks," Logan grunted as he took the bottle back and lifted it.

Bobby smiled, "No prob."

Logan sat down across from Bobby and took a swig before speaking again.

"How long have you been here?"

"A few years," Bobby answered.

"And your parents just sent you off to mutant school?"

Bobby grimaced. When the school year ended in a few months and he received his high school diploma, he had no idea how to tell his parents that he'd be staying on. He didn't need their permission since he was already eighteen, but he would have liked their blessing. He shook his head, knowing how much of a shot in the dark that was.

"Actually, my parents think this is a prep school."

"Oh, I see," Logan said dryly. "I suppose lots of prep schools have their own dorms, campuses…"

"Jets," Bobby finished for him.

Logan abruptly changed the subject. "How long has the Russian been here?"

"Piotr? About a year and a half, I think. Rogue brought him."

Logan looked slightly puzzled at Bobby's answer but asked, "And they've been friends ever since?"

Bobby nodded. "They were friends before he came here. But yeah, they're really close; she seems to trust him more than most people. She lets him get closer to her physically than anyone else, and he sketches and paints her all the time. Course, he's the only one who _tries_ to get that close to her, so that might have something to do with it."

Logan frowned and Bobby tried to figure out why he was asking so many questions about Piotr. He knew the woman he'd had a crush on before she had turned him down had once had a crush on the man sitting across from him, but Bobby had thought Logan only viewed Rogue as a younger sister sort. It's what everyone had thought two years ago. Especially since Logan flirted so openly with a certain redhead during the short time he had stayed with them. Maybe they'd all been wrong. Bobby tried to find out.

"You know, I've seen the way you look at Dr. Grey."

"Excuse me?" Logan looked a combination of surprised and angry.

Bobby did not want to incur the wrath of the Wolverine, so he dropped the subject quickly. "Nothing."

Bobby turned his attention back to his somewhat melted ice cream, barely noticing when the man across from him stiffened and lifted his head.

"What is it?" Bobby asked as Logan stood.

The only reply Bobby got was Logan shushing him. He looked around the kitchen, trying to hear whatever it was that had Logan so tense. With a 'stay here' gesture, Logan slunk silently into the dark hallway.

Bobby stood up quickly and walked to the window, trying to see outside into the pitch black of night. Was the Brotherhood attacking? The members he knew from Darkholme had never given any indication that they would ever come to the School, but he still remembered all the horror stories about Sabretooth, Mystique, Toad and Magneto from two years ago. Someone walked into the kitchen and Bobby turned, wide-eyed, to find a man dressed in all-black combat gear aiming a gun at him. So, _not_ the Brotherhood. After all, they had no need for guns. The intruder didn't see Logan come back into the room behind him until he was attacked. Bobby watched in awe as the Wolverine grabbed the soldier.

"You picked the wrong house, bub," he heard the Wolverine snarl.

A second later the high pitch sonic shriek that was the reason the girl who was supposed to be asleep on the second floor was called Siryn had all three of them covering their ears in pain. No one in the mansion would sleep through that.

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Rogue let go of her ears when the horrible scream ended suddenly. Even shutting down her enhanced hearing had not made the sound bearable, and she couldn't help being intensely relieved it was over, even if it did mean whoever had made it was probably in serious danger. She left the library at a dead run, heading straight to Piotr's room. He came out in just his pajama bottoms, other doors in the hall opening to reveal curious, worried or scared children, all in their nightclothes.

"It's happening already, isn't it?" he asked Rogue as she reached his side.

Rogue nodded, "It must be. Who screamed?"

"Siryn, she's around the corner, I'll get her and all the kids in that hall," he said quickly. "You get the ones in the other direction and we'll meet across from the library."

Rogue nodded again, knowing from the Erik in her head that there was a secret exit built into the wall where Piotr had said to meet. He turned away from her and sprinted down the hall, and Rogue motioned for the kids in the hall to follow her. The kids were all younger; she didn't recognize any of them. A few hesitated, not sure about going anywhere with a stranger despite the fact that she had seemed friendly with Piotr. But when gunfire and the sounds of fighting could be heard from the direction Piotr went, they immediately clustered closer to her.

"Come on," she told them, headed in the direction Piotr had indicated.

There were three men in full gear already in the hall, turning when they heard her coming. Rogue immediately put up a magnetic field bubble around the children with her to shield them, striding forward quickly to try to disarm the men without killing them. They did, after all, have presidential permission to be here. The less casualties in the military contingent, the easier it would be for Xavier to later get things straightened out. And Rogue had no illusions about the fact that Logan would not be holding back in his part of the fight.

All three of her opponents raised and fired their tranq guns at her. Rogue was able to stop the first two with Magneto's power, making it look like the syringes had hit an invisible wall before falling to the ground, but the third was merely deflected slightly from its original trajectory, slamming into her jacket's right pocket. A slight electronic sizzle filled her nostrils. Rogue grabbed the man nearest her and threw him into the wall hard enough to knock him out on impact. The second man flew into the opposite wall when she punched him hard in the chest. He would most likely have a few broken ribs.

The third man back away from her, trying to reload his tranq gun. Rogue pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to find that the tip of the tranq dart that had struck her pocket had stabbed through the exposed keypad, doing enough damage to the phone to make it unusable.

"I knew I should have gotten a flip phone," she muttered to herself. To the third, still conscious intruder, she asked, "Are you going to pay to replace this?"

The man frowned at her nearly casual tone with his eyes narrowed, and raised his now reloaded weapon. Rogue shook her head and pulled the gun out of his grasp with her control over metal. She quickly shot him in the neck, watching with satisfaction as his eyes rolled before he slumped to the floor. Satisfied that this hall was empty of any more intruders, Rogue let the field around the children dissipate.

"That was cool," one little boy told her as the kids followed her to the dorm rooms in this part of the house.

Rogue smiled at him in acknowledgment before entering the first room. The two boys in it ended up being inside the closet, huddling in a corner. Others in the hall were also hiding, but Rogue rounded them up quickly before leading the way back to the paneled wall across from the library doors. The group of kids Piotr had gone to get were piling into the passageway when Rogue's group got there. Piotr was handing a young girl with copper colored hair, who had to be Siryn as she was the only unconscious one, to a boy who didn't look much older than Siryn but must have had superior strength as he was easily able to carry her into the escape route.

After herding the children of both groups into the passageway, Piotr appointed the two oldest ones as being in charge until they met up with the older students. They were told to lead the group to the tunnel exit furthest from the school building, and to wait there until either he or Rogue came and told them otherwise. Once Piotr had closed the access panel behind the children, he and Rogue split up again. Piotr headed downstairs, and Rogue stayed on the second floor to go to the section of the school the older students were housed in.

As she approached the last corner in the appropriate hall, Rogue heard a shrill female scream that made a shiver run down her spine. She recognized that voice. Rounding the corner at a run, Rogue felt her eyes widen in horror at the sight before her.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I hope the length makes up for the wait. I have a bit of trouble writing action scenes. Also, the scenes in this chapter overlap each other in many places, hopefully the way I wrote it isn't too confusing.

When I was watching X2 yet again for reference, I noticed something I hadn't before. When Rogue is bare-armed (in her nightgown in the school) with Bobby and John and the window at the end of the hall explodes, Bobby's bare forearm touches hers, with absolutely no effect! Filming oopsie, lol! Anyone else ever notice that?

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When Siryn's scream was cut off, Bobby lifted himself off the floor and peered over the edge of the kitchen island. The shooting that had started when Siryn screamed right after Logan had grabbed the man from behind had stopped. Bobby watched in concern as Logan was pressed hard into the other side of the kitchen island, a wicked looking knife mere inches from his face in the soldier's hand. Bobby and the soldier both jumped when Logan's claws popped out with a quick '_snikt_'. With a roar, Logan managed to push the other man off of him.

Bobby's eyes widened almost painfully as he watched Logan slam his claws into the armed intruder against the refrigerator, Logan's claws sunk all the way to the knuckle into the guy's chest, just inside either armpit. As the grown, military-trained man screamed in very real agony, Bobby was very, very grateful that the Wolverine was on their side. He didn't even want to think about the possibility of being in that much torment.

With the sound of metal sliding against metal, Logan retracted his claws. The previously pinned man dropped to the floor with a slight thud. Evidently the stabbing wounds had killed him because he no longer made any sounds. Bobby absently noted the six puncture marks in the freezer door as he turned his eyes to the now panting Logan.

"You alright?" Logan asked him.

Bobby nodded from his spot peering over the edge of the island. He only straightened and came around the structure when Logan headed for the doorway to the hall. Bobby _did not_ want to be left alone. He followed closely on Logan's heels, staring when they looked out into the hall to find four more men, also armed to the teeth. Logan grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt and pushed him back slightly to remain in the doorway.

"Stay here," Logan ordered quietly.

There were four men in the hall, the first two staggered nearer to the kitchen but all four facing away. Logan crept quickly but silently up behind the nearest man, slamming the claws of his right hand into the man's lower back, his left hand clamped onto the man's mouth to stop him from making noise. Unfortunately, a muffled groan of pain escaped, causing the second closest soldier to turn toward Logan. He got three adamantium claws to the chest for his trouble, dropping when Logan pulled his hand back, leaving the claws out.

Just then Bobby noticed screams coming from the floor above them. Glancing at the ceiling, he realized he could hear many of the students screaming in fear as well as the sounds of running feet. He swallowed nervously when he realized that probably meant there were more intruders upstairs as well. He glanced Logan's way again before dashing toward the elevator the opposite way down the hall. He had to find John.

Bobby knew his best friend wouldn't head to one of the emergency exits of the school until John had found him. And the longer either of them stayed, the more likely they'd be captured or hurt. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to John while the other boy was looking for him. He glanced one last time down the hall as he darted into the bright interior of the elevator. Logan was now running down the hall, a roar echoing in the corridor. The guards had already been alerted to his presence so there was no point in being quiet now. Bobby mentally thanked the man for his efforts as the elevator door silently slid shut.

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Rogue shook with fear at the sight before her. One of the invading soldiers was twenty feet down the hall, and he'd evidently had a little trouble with the mutant child he was grappling with. His gun was on the ground a few feet away and he was currently holding a large, wicked looking knife to the girl's neck… Conchita's neck.

_Take the knife, child,_ Erik told her.

'No,' she thought back, barely stopping herself from shaking her head… the soldier was staring at her, a calculating gleam in his eyes. 'Taking the knife with your power wouldn't stop him from killing her. He could easily snap her neck before I could reach them. I can't… I _won't_ watch her die.'

_Easy, darlin'_, her inner Logan soothed when her panic threatened to get the best of her. _Focus._

Rogue blinked and stared at the man holding her young friend. Conchita was whimpering, tears sliding down her tan face. Her unusually light blue eyes begged Rogue to do something, anything, to make this living nightmare end. Rogue took an unconscious step forward.

The man pressed the knife tighter to Conchita's throat, the girl cutting off her whimpering to hold her breath in terror.

"Any closer and I slit your little friend's throat," the man snapped.

Rogue stood still and tried softly, "Please, don't hurt her."

She slowly slid her hands behind her back, peeling her gloves off and letting them fall to the floor.

The soldier narrowed his eyes suspiciously but looked from her to Conchita and back again consideringly.

"Come here," he ordered. "And no funny stuff."

She started walking slowly toward him, until he spoke again.

"Wait," he told her. He asked Conchita, "What's her power?"

Conchita's eyes widened and at a mental budge from Rogue she said hoarsely, "T-telepathy."

"Prove it," the soldier demanded of Rogue.

"Think of a number," she said off-hand, then when he did, she added, "Seven."

"Alright, slowly now." When Rogue began walking again, he conversationally told her, "You're going to come over here and hold onto your little friend for me until I can tranq you both, or I'll kill you. Doesn't make any difference to me, but I assume you'd like to live."

Rogue nodded shakily as if she believed him and had no other thought than to obey. She had to work to keep her breathing even as she moved the last few feet toward him. When he shifted his weight to hand Conchita to her, she made her move. The soldier's hold on Conchita had already loosened enough that when Rogue grabbed the girl and drew her firmly behind her, Conchita's arm protected from contact with Rogue's hand by the long sleeved nightshirt she was wearing, he lost his grip. Cursing under his breath, he swung the hand that had the knife, trying to hit Rogue. Now able to use her control over metal without worrying about what he'd do to the girl she was protecting, Rogue stopped the knife an inch from her face, narrowing her eyes at him. His own widened only momentarily before he tried again to attack.

It quickly became apparent that fighting someone off one-handed wasn't easy. Although she was able to block most of his punches and kicks, she knew she didn't have time to waste wearing him down defensively. After doing a mental scan of the immediate area to make sure Conchita wouldn't be in danger from another invader, Rogue let go of the girl to tackle the man in front of her, her hands clenched in the vest he was wearing. He went flying backward, Rogue with him, right through the large decorative window he'd been standing in front of.

"Rogue!" she heard Conchita scream.

She and the soldier nearly hit another man repelling down from a helicopter, and she picked up a thought from the man she was still clutching.

'At least I'm taking one of them with me.'

Not exactly, she laughingly told him directly to his mind as she brought a halt to their downward motion.

She hovered in midair, taking in with a glance the sheer number of the force continuing to invade the mansion. Rogue noticed a couple of the helicopters leaving and knew whoever had been captured so far was in the machines. And though she could have brought them down, there was too much risk to the innocent lives she would be trying to save. She couldn't do it that way.

Turning her attention back to the man in her hands, she followed his stricken gaze to the ground two stories down. She yanked the knife out of his hand and pocketed it, knowing she might have need of a weapon later and not having brought her own. She pressed her hand against his face, the only uncovered part of him, to take his memories. Unfortunately he was part of a unit that had been called in just for the invasion and didn't know anything about Stryker's real plan or even where Stryker's base of operations was. She sighed and wiped the paint that had smeared from his face to her hand onto his sleeve. He looked at her, obviously too well trained to beg for his life.

She shrugged and told him coldly, "You might live."

Then she dropped him. Rogue didn't stay to see whether he survived the fall or not, diving back through the shattered window to find Conchita exactly where'd she left her. But Conchita was no longer alone in the hall. The rest of the female students from this part of the dorms were slightly down the hall from the Hispanic mutant. From the looks on their faces, they had seen what happened. Kitty was in the forward position of leader of the small group.

The teenage girl glanced at her with wide, red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes caused by crying she had probably only recently gotten under control. She looked absolutely miserable and Rogue knew, even before she took a peak in Kitty's head, that Jubilee had been taken. The two girls were best friends, and Rogue could only imagine the terror, and maybe even guilt at not being taken herself, that Kitty was feeling right now.

"Come on," she lightly commanded the teenager and those with her. "Piotr and the other students are waiting for us, we have to get out of here."

Rogue was suddenly tackled by a newly sobbing Conchita, and she wrapped her arms around the teen, trying unsuccessfully to shush her.

"They took.. they took…"

"Decipher?" Rogue finished for her. Conchita nodded, her face still buried in Rogue's jacket. "He came here to get you, and they took him instead. Conchita, no matter what it takes, I promise I will get your brother back for you."

"But, how?" Conchita pulled back slightly to look up at Rogue.

Rogue smiled sadly, "No matter what it takes, Conchita, I promise. It may mean using every ounce of power I have, but I will do it."

The girl knew every one of the powers Rogue possessed because of her brother's secondary mutation. He always catalogued them whenever she saw the twins, as if it was his duty to keep track for her. And evidently that was enough. Taking a deep breath that turned into an odd little hiccup, Conchita nodded and allowed Rogue to move away from her.

"Come on, everyone," Rogue urged.

They met up with Piotr and the older male students without further incident, and the students merged into one large huddle while Piotr and Rogue stepped away from them to talk.

"Is this everyone?" Rogue asked him.

Piotr released a heavy sigh. "It's everyone I could find. I'm just not familiar enough with the whole student body to know how many are missing, and there's no way of knowing how many have been taken."

Rogue nodded, "I know at least Decipher and Jubilee were." Piotr closed his eyes briefly at the news. "I could find out if anyone is left in the school that we missed…" she trailed off, shutting her own eyes in concentration.

She reached through the mansion with her mind, noting the increasing number of soldiers still making their way into the building before coming across three familiar minds. Logan was worried about a child that she couldn't read for some reason, and John and Bobby were each desperately looking for the other. With a gasp, she reopened her eyes. Piotr steadied her when she swayed slightly.

"Bobby and John are still here, but aside from Logan and someone he's trying to protect, that's it," she told Piotr.

"I'll look for them," Piotr assured her.

"No, Piotr," she responded. "I will. The students are more familiar with you, and right now they desperately need that. I'll find the two boys and get them out, but you need to take the rest of them and go now, there will be more men than we can handle soon." Rogue pulled her key ring from her pocket and pressed it into Piotr's hand. "Take them to the House, it's all I can think of for now. The police… well, with this being a Presidentially authorized entry, I don't think it's safe to go to any of the authorities."

She threw her arms around him, allowing Piotr to return the hug for long moments before pressing a light kiss to his cheek and pulling back.

"I love you," she told him. "Be safe."

Piotr cupped her face in one large hand. "I love you, too. If you don't…"

"I will," she interrupted, not wanting to consider the chance that this could be the last time she'd see him. "Go."

Giving her best friend a push in the direction of the waiting students, she turned and jogged down the hall, headed in the direction of where she assumed John and Bobby would finally run into each other.

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Logan barely noticed the animalistic sounds coming from his own throat, so great was his rage. How dare these men, fully grown and obviously military, invade a _school_ of nearly defenseless children armed with guns and full combat gear? Both sets of claws were now out, no thought of holding back anywhere to be found. There were two more men in this hall, and he dispatched them as quickly as he had the first two. Knowing Bobby had gotten into the elevator from the sounds that had reached his sensitive hearing, Logan turned his worry to the other child he knew was down on this floor, the boy he'd spoken to briefly that had been watching TV using his eyelids as a remote.

He rounded the corner to see two more soldiers just outside the rec room the kid had been in. They were crouched down, a small form lying on the floor between them. The thought that it could just as easily have been Marie had him seeing red, and he roared with anger once more, running full speed at these latest opponents. One of the soldiers rose, pulling out a smaller gun that looked about the size of a nine millimeter semi-automatic. He fired, and Logan felt three small stings jerk his right shoulder… but it didn't slow him down.

The man who hadn't shot at him rose quickly as Logan approached, raising his larger automatic rifle, the weapon the one in the kitchen had fired so haphazardly when that odd and very annoying sound had come from the second floor. Before the soldier could even attempt to aim the gun, Logan had sliced through the muzzle and then through the man's chest. He pivoted and clawed the one that _had_ shot him… in the face. They both fell to the ground dead.

Logan stood catching his breath for a moment, listening carefully. The sounds of a fight on the floor above reached him and he could only be glad someone else was fighting back. He couldn't protect everyone by himself. Hopefully whoever it was upstairs was giving the invaders hell. He concentrated harder and realized there were a lot more men in the intruding force, at least two dozen were outside on the school's massive back lawn, headed for the structure. He could also hear several helicopters as well as the distinctive double blade _whoop whoop_ sound pattern of a full size Chinook carrier, probably with even more back up.

Now that the adrenaline rush of killing the seven men was finally starting to calm a little, Logan felt a tiny surge of sleepiness before shaking his head, his healing factor counteracting the sensation. He pulled the three small, cylindrical darts from his shoulder to study them for a moment. Looking down he saw that the kid had three of the same darts in his neck. So the invasion was about capture, not killing… at least he hoped so. The men were, however, still armed to the teeth with offensive weapons and not just the tranquilizer guns. Logan knew that if they were given enough trouble, the soldiers would shoot to kill.

The kid at his feet was making small, weird noises and his eyes were fluttering. With a small sigh, Logan stooped to pick him up, knowing it wasn't safe to just leave him, no matter how much easier it might have been.

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Piotr watched until Rogue had disappeared around the corner before going back to where the students were nervously huddled waiting for him. Conchita looked panicked when she noticed Rogue wasn't with him. When she moved as if to look down the hall for the woman who had originally helped save her and had done so again tonight, Piotr knew he had to tell her something.

Stopping Conchita with a hand on her shoulder, Piotr told her quietly, "She's just making sure everyone else makes it out. And Chita, she can't keep her promise to you if she stayed with us. It would be hard for her to mount a rescue mission if she was worried about everyone else being captured."

Evidently he had picked the wrong way to say it, because fresh tears welled in the young mutant's unusual blue eyes.

"What if she gets captured too?" her lower lip trembled as she asked. "We could lose both of them."

"We won't," he said firmly, giving her slim shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Has Rogue ever broken a promise to you?"

Conchita shook her head quickly.

"She's not going to start now, okay?"

"Okay." The one word came out shuddery and sad, but it was better than nothing.

Piotr glanced at Kitty, who came forward to wrap an arm around Conchita's shoulder.

"Rogue's going to get Decipher back for you, and Jubilee back for me, and everyone else those monsters took," she assured the girl, though Piotr could see the doubt in her soft gaze. "Until then, we have each other to look out for, okay, Chita?"

The younger teenager did not protest the use of the nickname only Decipher, Rogue and Piotr were allowed to call her, instead simply nodding slowly. It was more than Piotr had the right to hope for considering the circumstances, and he smiled gratefully at Kitty before turning toward the wall. Piotr stooped to slam the side of his fist into the appropriate spot on the wall, standing straight once the hidden panel opened, sliding to the side with a gentle whir of gears. He turned to the teens behind him and urged them into the passage.

"Go on, get in," he told them. "Let's go. Let's go."

As they clambered into the opening, Logan approached at a half-jog from the direction opposite that which Rogue had gone a minute before, slowed by the unconscious child in his arms. Doug, whose mutation made it impossible and unnecessary for him to sleep, looked very strange, his head lolling and his eyelids fluttering oddly. Piotr automatically reached for the boy, knowing the Wolverine was put to better use aggressively defending all of them.

"Hey," Logan said as he held Doug out. "Take him. He's stunned."

Logan immediately turned away and started to stalk back down the hall. Although he knew time was of the essence right now, Piotr felt a flash of irritation at being dismissed so easily by the other man.

"I can help you," he told Logan firmly.

Logan turned back toward him and gestured to the faces watching from the passageway, Conchita's still grief-stricken countenance being the closest.

"Help them," Logan responded, a bit more gently this time.

Piotr nodded once before adding, "Rogue's still here. I think she's on the second floor. I can get her while you're taking care of the intruders."

He'd worry later about the improbabilities of her keeping her promise if she was with all of them. As much as he liked Decipher and his twin, Piotr was much more concerned with keeping Rogue with them and safe.

Logan shook his head. "Just go with the kids, keep them safe. I promised M-Rogue a long time ago that I'd always take care of her. I'm not going to fail her."

'Then how do you explain leaving her for so long ago?' Piotr thought to himself, but he nodded again.

He stooped to follow Conchita into the tunnel, careful not to let Doug's head hit the edges of the opening. He guided the students with him down the passage that would lead to the edge of the property, the tunnel feeding out into the woods. There they would meet up with the rest of the kids, and he could then decide how to get all of them to safety and temporary shelter without drawing too much attention. Which, considering there was somewhere near sixty students all between the ages of six and eighteen, would not be an easy task. The fact that all of them, even him, were in their nightclothes wasn't going to help matters. He could only hope Rogue, Logan and whoever else was left in the school would be able to get out and join up with them later.

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Although it would have been nice to have backup, Logan had known it was for the best that the children have someone to look after them as they made their break for freedom. He didn't, therefore, appreciate Piotr's hesitation, especially in regards to finding Marie and leading her to safety. Marie was _his_… his to find and his to protect. He'd saved her before… though he hoped with everything in him that she wouldn't be in as desperate need of his help this time as she had been two years ago. And while he could understand the younger man's concern, he didn't appreciate the implication that Marie would need more than just him.

He stalked quietly down the hall and into a shorter one, slowing when he heard movement around the corner. He crept silently to a spot just before the wall turned. With his back against the cool surface of the wood paneling, Logan sank down on his haunches and waited claws out and up in preparation. When a floorboard mere inches away creaked, he struck, sinking his claws through the man's foot, causing a scream of anguish. In one smooth movement, he stood and speared the guy through the chest with his claws, lifting him clear off the floor as he stood upright. Death spasms in the guy's hand had his automatic weapon firing a few times, a flashlight falling from his other, now slack hand. Looking at the chunky goggles on the man's head, Logan wondered at the need for flashlights if they had night vision capabilities.

But the thought was gone moments later. He had to make a decision. The shots fired would have drawn the attention of more of the soldiers, in fact he could hear that more and more men were coming into the school, and some were close by. Should he stay and get rid of as many of them as possible, or head upstairs and find Marie? He spotted a nearby narrow staircase and, considering the decision made for him, he headed up the stairs two at a time.

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Before she could reach the two boys, Rogue ran into more trouble in the form of a lone soldier. More pressed for time than she had been before, she pulled him to her by the metal in his weapons and gear, snapping his neck when he was in range. As his body fell, Bobby and John ran into each other about five feet from her, coming from two different halls.

She quickly pulled the knife from her pocket and hurled it toward them, Bobby yelling in surprise, "Rogue!"

The knife flew between the teens, and they turned their heads to watch it strike the man who'd been sneaking up on them between the eyes.

"Holy shit," John swore, his eyes wide.

Rogue didn't have time to deal with his awe. "Bobby, John, this way."

She turned to lead them back the way she had come, hoping it was still as clear as it had been when she used it. But movement at the window located at the end of the corridor caught her eye. A roughly man-shaped shadow was on either side of the glass for a few moments before disappearing. An odd whining sound that continue to raise in pitch and tempo reached her ears and Rogue threw out both arms to stop the two teens with her from getting closer to the window. A second later the glass exploded inward, causing all three of them to scream and duck instinctively despite the fact they weren't close enough to get hit. They turned and ran the other direction before more men could come into the building through the newly created entrance. Rogue followed Bobby and John this time, acknowledging that they knew the school better than she did.

After dodging through a couple hallways, they headed down a staircase, passing a few bodies with marks that identified them as having had a run in with the Wolverine.

Bobby yelled, "Come on," when John hesitated.

They went down another corridor that fed into a large room with a fireplace nearly big enough to stand in. Bobby started to lead them under the balcony that was part of the second floor toward a set of big doors, but four guys with guns came into the room from that direction. The three of them froze for a second before moving back as the soldiers advanced. Rogue was about to go back into attack mode when a sound from the second floor had her looking up.

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Logan had been relieved when he'd seen Marie with the two boys. Knowing she was safe had lifted a lot of the worry from his mind. But seeing her jump back in fear like that and seeing four men aiming guns at the young woman he considered his… well, he had no longer been able to keep the Wolverine leashed. He was climbing onto the railing before he even realized what he was doing.

With a roar that put his earlier ones to shame, he launched himself through the air claws first, driving down into the middle two soldiers with all the force he could manage. They crumpled and didn't move, and he drove his claws up into the remaining two men, throwing them bodily back through the air as he rose.

"Let's go," he snapped at the two boys who looked a little shell-shocked.

Marie was looking at him with warmth in her eyes, and he couldn't stop himself from reaching out to touch her jacket-covered arm. Though her gloves were missing, she was still wearing the clothes she had on earlier. It was odd but convenient considering the circumstances. Breathing hard from how close he had come to losing her again, he fought the urge to haul her against him… he knew they didn't have time for that.

"Are you okay?" he asked to be sure.

With a smile, Marie answered, "I am now."

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An answering smile touched Logan's lips and after a brief nod, he turned to lead them the way Bobby had been trying to. Before they'd taken more than a few steps, the doors were thrown violently open to reveal a helicopter hovering close to the ground, several men pouring into the building.

Logan changed direction to down another hall, saying, "Come on, this way."

In yet another hall, Bobby pushed against part of the wall, a panel sliding up. Logan ushered Rogue and the two boys into the revealed passageway. As soon as Rogue was through she spun around with the intention of making sure no one but Logan got in, only to find he was closing the 'door'… while he was still out in the hall.

"Logan!" she shouted.

She scrambled to try to re-open the panel, but either she was doing something wrong or it had never been meant as an entrance to the mansion, only an exit. It wouldn't budge, and she was reluctant to simply destroy it. She had no way of knowing just how eager Stryker was to get his hands on more of them. Perhaps the panel being closed was more trouble than he was willing to go through, more time than he was willing to spend. Because if simply wanting to capture as many of them as possible had been his priority, he would have waited to be ready to handle powers wielded by the students instead of _just _coming in with tranquilizers. Rogue turned her head to stare at the two boys who had already started down the tunnel.

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As soon as he had shut the sliding panel that closed off the escape tunnel, Logan turned and unleashed his claws, facing the multitude of light beams from the intruders' guns. He knew he had a better chance of fighting the men in the hallway. In the passage way through which he had sent Marie and the two boys with her, all he would have been able to do was try to block any bullets aimed at them. There was a greater chance of Marie being hurt that way.

This way, he could hold off the armed men, hopefully stopping them from following at all. All he really had to do was kill the ones that had come into the hall while the panel was sliding shut. None of the others would know where it was. And then, when he knew they wouldn't be followed, he'd catch up with Marie and get her somewhere safe.

"You wanna shoot me? Shoot me!" he shouted when they hesitated.

He was eager to get the fight over and done with, eager to be with her again, to know for himself that she was safe and unharmed.

A male voice ringing with authority and a zeal Logan found similar to the times he'd heard Magneto speak ordered, "Don't shoot him! Not yet."

An older man, on the short side of average and with a round stomach at odds with his military companions and clothing, came into view, moving between the armed men to slowly approach Logan. He did, Logan noted absently, maintain enough space between them that Logan would have to take at least a few steps for the man to be in claw range. Logan had no doubt he'd be shot multiple times should he even appear to be attempting it.

"Wolverine? Well, I must admit this is certainly the last place I'd expect to find you. How long has it been? Sixteen, seventeen years? You haven't changed one bit. Me, on the other hand," the man lifted a gloved hand to touch his own face, which was twisted slightly by an odd, almost menacing smile, "nature."

Faint images flashed in Logan's mind, some in the lab from his nightmares, some not, all featuring this man, markedly younger in the memories than he currently was. Deep shock had his heart thumping painfully against his metal lined ribs, and he barely noticed when his claws slowly slid back into his arms.

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Rogue turned to look at the two boys with her, not having noticed they were already walking down the tunnel. John was jogging away, but Bobby was hesitating, looking back over his shoulder at her as if to make sure she was coming.

Rogue called out, "Wait, wait. You guys we gotta do something. They're going to kill him"

Killing him might have been an exaggeration, especially considering the strength of his healing factor, but to Logan being captured was as bad as, if not worse than, death. She would do anything to stop it from happening.

"He can handle himself," John said in a desperate tone, already a good fifteen feet down the tunnel.

Not knowing John as well as she did Bobby, and not knowing if she could talk the fire controller out of his mindset, Rogue turned her gaze to the other teen, "Bobby! Please. I don't know how to open it, at least tell me how."

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When Logan didn't say anything, the older man, obviously the leader of the invading contingent, continued, "I didn't realize Xavier was taking in animals, even animals as unique as you."

"Who _are_ you?" Logan asked, finally finding his voice.

"Don't you remember?" came the gentle yet decidedly sinister reply.

Logan took a step closer to the man when a chill suddenly filled the air and a shadow fell across the somewhat familiar man's face. Logan watched in shock as a wall of ice formed between them.

"No!" he yelled, realizing his chance at answers had been standing right in front of him. "No!"

He turned to see Bobby thickening the ice wall with one hand on the surface of the school's actual wall, Marie peering out worriedly from beside him. He could have cut through the ice with his claws, there wasn't much that stood up to adamantium and he knew ice wasn't one of those things as he'd had occasion more than once in the past to cut an ice hole in winter to get to drinking water or to fish for his dinner, but seeing the anxiety on the face of the woman he loved snapped him back out of his old mindset. Finding out about his past was nowhere near as important as protecting his future. With one last look at the silhouette on the other side of the ice, he turned toward his hope.

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When he had visibly hesitated, Rogue was afraid he would still choose to go after the man she was pretty sure had to be Stryker. At any other time, she would have gone with him, helped him, but there were too many men and she also had Bobby and John to worry about. She wasn't anywhere near as close to them as she was to Piotr, Wanda, Pietro or the younger twins they had rescued, but she definitely considered the two teenaged boys her friends. She didn't want them captured or hurt.

Rogue called gently but firmly to the man she loved, "Logan, come on. Let's go."

Logan turned away from the ice and toward them, motioning with his hand for she and Bobby to get out of his way. "Go. Keep going."

They both backed out of the opening, Bobby moving further down to where John was waiting with an impatient frown. Rogue waited until Logan had shut the entrance to the tunnel behind him to release the breath she hadn't fully realized she was holding. Part of her had been so afraid that he was going to abandon her again.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

She hesitantly raised one hand but was unable to comfortingly touch his arm as she wished to since her gloves had been left behind. Now wasn't the time to explain the limits of her control, something she had to do _before_ touching him so he didn't get his hopes up. If he even truly had hopes in that regard toward her. Then the warmth of his gaze slid quickly over her, and Rogue was once again optimistic that he might care for her as more than the waif he'd once rescued. His verbal response only intensified the feeling.

"As long as you are," Logan told her.

A tight but genuine smile tilted Rogue's lips at his comment. He ran a hand gently from her shoulder to her elbow, protected by three layers of clothing. Of course, he had no way of knowing that she was wearing her uniform under her jacket and shirt. She was suddenly grateful Wanda had asked her to wear it. She would need it later, and it had probably helped protect her when she had flown through the window with the man who'd grabbed Conchita.

Rogue was snapped out of her thoughts when an explosion in the hall sent faint tremors into the cement lined tunnel.

"Let's go," one of the boys called, reminding Rogue of their presence.

She and Logan turned as one and jogged after the teenagers, the sounds of their shoes striking the floor only slightly louder than the _slap slap_ noise of John and Bobby's bare feet. Bobby lead the way through the tunnel and around a corner, stopping for only a second in front of a ladder built into the wall before beginning to climb.

Logan glanced further down the passage before asking Bobby with a nod at the ladder, "Where does that lead?"

"The garage."

That answer seemed to satisfy the oldest of them, and all four members of the small group hustled quickly up the ladder and through the hatch in the garage floor that Bobby had opened. Rogue looked longingly toward her own car at the other end of the garage, but Piotr had her keys. They had to make due with the closest, most convenient vehicle.

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Logan thought longingly of his own 'new' truck for only a moment. It had no backseat, just a single bench seat. And while four might fit, it would be very tight. And on top of not wanting Marie to feel uncomfortable because of her skin, the thought of one these two boys pressed up against her made him want to pop the claws again. Instead he headed for the car closest to the garage door, a small blue sporty number that had only two doors but _did_ have a backseat.

He motioned to the vehicle, telling his companions in a hurrying tone, "Get in, get in."

Marie and Bobby headed for the passenger side, Bobby thoughtfully getting in first so Marie could take the front seat.

Headed for the driver's side, John confidently announced, "I'm driving."

"Yeah," Logan snorted. He motioned the teen into the backseat, saying dryly, " Maybe next time."

When they were all in, Logan leaned forward to check the build of the steering column for the best place to stick a claw to 'hotwire' it.

Bobby commented from the backseat, "This is Cyclops' car."

Logan popped his middle claw in salute, answering absently, "Oh, yeah?"

He started the car and hit the garage door opener attached to the visor above his head. Peeling out of the garage as soon as there was enough of an opening to do so, Logan was glad the invading force had been stupid enough not to block this means of escape.

When they were off school property and on a poorly lit one lane back road, John asked, "What the hell was that back there?"

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Rogue hesitated before opening her mouth to tell them what little she knew, but Logan beat her to it.

"Stryker. His name is Stryker."

"Do you know who is he?" Rogue asked quietly.

A look of irritation crossed Logan's face, but Rogue knew it was at his own answer and not her as soon as he spoke.

"I can't remember."

Rogue nodded slowly before telling him, "His name is Colonel William Stryker and this morning he used yesterday's attack on the President as an excuse to get permission to come into the School and detain the mutants inside. I had no idea he would go in that quickly or I would have tried harder to tell Xavier before he and Scott left."

She barely heard Bobby mutter a despairing, "Oh, God," under his breath in the back seat as Logan sighed.

Silence descended on the car until they were several miles from the School and the helicopters could no longer be seen or heard. Feeling eyes on her from the backseat and realizing she'd been staring at Logan's profile the entire time and that at least one of the teens had noticed, if not both, Rogue turned her head to stare at the passing scenery.

A second later John leaned forward into the space between the two front seats with a grunt, "I can't stand riding in a silent car."

John hit the big middle button on the car's odd radio as Rogue asked, "What are you doing?"

The radio came on loud and apparently on a pop station since a boy band song was instantly blasting from the speakers. All four of them groaned, and John automatically hit the same button to turn off the offending sound. More carefully choosing his destination this time, John pressed the button marked 'CD' only to have a panel too big for a compact disc slide open on the face of the radio. Rogue could see a comm device in the uncovered hidden cubby.

John remarked dryly, "I don't think that's the CD player."

Rogue responded automatically, "It's a communications device, the Professor had me borrow one once. You have to be in range of an open receiving signal for it to work."

Logan reached over and pressed the button again to make it pop out all the way, saying to John, "Sit back."

Taking the comm, he held it up to his ear, but even before he frowned, they could all hear that there was nothing but static coming through the earpiece. After another a minute of silence had passed, John cleared his throat.

"So, where are we going?" he asked, sounding like nothing so much as a kid having an adventurous summer vacation car trip.

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Logan was silent for a few moments, making a decision. If it had been just him and Marie, he would have just found a motel and hid out until he thought it was safe to go back to the mansion for their stuff before heading to his cabin in the Canadian wilderness. But he had the two boys to think about as well now. And with what Marie had said about Stryker, there was a chance she'd know more that could be useful to Chuck and his X-Geeks. He owed them all the intelligence they could get for their part in her care the last two years. With great reluctance, he came to a decision.

"Storm and Jean are in Boston with the jet," he told Marie and his other, more temporary, companions. "We'll head that way. Maybe when we're closer we'll be able to get a signal on that thing."

"My parents are in Boston." It was Bobby's voice that said it, but each word was uttered low and hesitantly.

It clearly showed that Bobby knew what he was suggesting by saying it, and he knew what it would lead to. But he also knew they didn't have a lot of safe options and that it was best for everyone who could to contribute to them remaining free. Logan couldn't help a twinge of admiration for the kid after their discussion in the kitchen earlier.

Logan glanced in the review mirror at the boy in the backseat briefly before returning his gaze to the road. "Good."

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The alarms in and on the prison facility had been going for at least fifteen minutes before Magneto finally exited the structure, part of it collapsing behind him when he pulled out it's iron support beams. Mystique could only assume he'd taken the time to track down everyone in the building who'd had a hand in his mistreatment and punish them accordingly. Otherwise he would have been out much faster once the metal alloy in the fat guard she'd rugged and injected earlier that day had reached him. She'd paid the bartender to wake the slob up after she was gone so he wouldn't miss his shift and make his superiors suspicious.

Magneto touched down a few feet in front of her, having levitated away from the building to where she was waiting, leaning patiently against a rental car. A tight smile graced his lips as he drew closer to her, lifting one wrinkled but strong hand to run his fingers lightly through the soft fall of her bob. His mouth crashed down on hers suddenly, and Mystique responded as little as possible, knowing the gesture was more about finally being able to do as he wished as opposed to being a greeting of any sort.

"Let us leave this place," he said when he pulled back, already headed to the passenger side of the car, "before the humans decide to try to recapture me. My strength is not yet what it should be."

"Where to?" she asked when they were both in the vehicle.

There was more than one hideout where he could lie low for awhile. Mystique did not even take the Brotherhood House into consideration since the X-Men, sure to cooperate with the government in Magneto's recapture, knew it's location, had known it even before it was revealed that Rogue was staying there.

"The House," he answered.

Mystique bit the inside of her cheek as she started the car and headed for the freeway. Sounding panicked or worried would make her weak in his eyes, and things would only go downhill from there. When she was sure she could speak without any dangerous hint of inflection, she calmly pointed out the hazards of going to that particular property.

"I need a change of clothes, one of my extra helmets and to be able to sleep in my own bed for what's left of the night," he rebutted. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

When she didn't get any more of an explanation, Mystique waited a moment before casually remarking, "Oh?"

She glanced his way out of the corner of her eye, seeing that Magneto's face had twisted in something resembling a snarl. She was afraid for a moment that he had become angry with her… until he started to speak.

"Charles has been taken, and if the plan to use him is not stopped," the anger was clear in Magneto's voice, "we are all in danger. As much as I might wish it were otherwise, we're going to need the help of Charles' precious X-Men to stop our own extinction."

Mystique paled at the knowledge that Xavier, who Rogue had supposedly gone to warn, had already been affected by that mad man's scheme. But if Magneto knew Xavier had been captured, it meant it had happened at the jail. The leader of the X-Men must have gone to see Magneto before Rogue could issue the warning and been taken by the latest enemy to mutantkind.

"Stryker," she muttered his name as if it were a curse.

She glanced at Magneto to find him watching her expectantly.

"The President called me into a meeting this morning about the mutant who attacked him and what should be done about it," she said. "What he didn't realize was that it was a cover developed by Stryker to get permission to invade Xavier's School. Stryker mentioned he had gotten the information about the school from you, so that's how I was finally able to track down where you were."

"You know who it was Stryker used to attack the President," Magneto observed.

Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, she answered, "It was Kurt."

"I'm sorry, my dear," he responded after a silent moment. "Rest assured, he will pay for what he has done, what he _plans_ to do, to all of us."

Mystique nodded, and the rest of the drive was accomplished in silence. When they arrived in the front drive, Mystique turned to wake her resting companion with a soft, "Erik."

Blinking awake quickly, Magneto turned in his seat in preparation of exiting the car, but Mystique pressed the button on her side that automatically locked all the doors. He turned his head back toward her, clearly expecting an explanation.

"You can't use Rogue in another of your schemes."

He simply gave her a blank look, and Mystique had to struggle to put a rein on her temper.

"Promise me, Erik, or Rogue and I will both leave."

Magneto raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "She's been living at the House, then?"

"Yes," she affirmed unapologetically. The House was as much hers as it was his, and she wouldn't bow to him on the choice of having her daughter live there. "And you should know that Wanda and Pietro are two of her closest friends."

His face took on a look she had seen many times before, one that told her he was thinking of how best to turn this situation to his advantage. Her blood ran cold at the mental image of him rebuilding the machine that had, at least temporarily, killed her daughter.

"After what you did to her," Mystique warned him, "you'll be lucky if she doesn't try to kill you if you even go near her again. She'll never join you, Erik. And if you do go after her, you'll have me to contend with as well."

His eyes narrowed, his expression furious, but Mystique didn't back down as she would have in other things. After a few tense minutes, Magneto's face eased, though his eyes remained narrowed.

"A mother's love," he said almost mockingly. "A little late in life for you to be discovering your maternal instincts, my dear."

Mystique flinched but answered firmly, her eyes flashing, "Better late than never."

"And does your precious only daughter know the truth?" he asked coldly.

Paling at the innuendo that he would use that secret against her, Mystique admitted quietly, "It was never the right time. It may be hard for you to understand, Erik, but I do love her, and it is going to hurt her to learn that I abandoned her." She paused to try to calm her rapidly pounding heart. "And what hurts her hurts me."

"Very well," Magneto finally relented, "if Rogue stays out of my way, I'll stay out of hers."

Mystique wondered for only a moment if she should tell him the full truth. But she kept her mouth shut, knowing that though he might not see it that way, Rogue had the right to know first. And when she did… well, Mystique couldn't begin to imagine what would happen after that.

"Are we done?" Magneto asked in a bored tone.

Mystique nodded, pressing the unlock button on the door console. They both climbed from the vehicle, and Mystique stared up at the face of the Brotherhood House, praying Rogue wouldn't be the one to open the front door.

**_To be continued…_**


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, real life's been a real pain lately with family and money issues, sickness and then injury all taking their toll. The next chapter is already partially written and shouldn't take too long to get up… as long as my jury duty tomorrow doesn't last more than a day. :(

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"Come on. Everybody follow me, up here."

After meeting up with the rest of the students at the end of the main tunnel, Piotr led the group through the exit that fed out into the woods at the edge of the school's property. Luckily there was a faint path that was at least partially maintained, because most of them, himself included, were barefoot.

The going was slow, due to both the lack of footwear and the tiredness and youth of most of his companions. Eventually, though, they reached an area of the woods that abutted a small shopping center at the edge of downtown consisting of a gas station, a drug store and a postal annex as well as a few small shops. What mattered to Piotr at the moment was the payphone in front of the hair salon.

"All of you stay here, out of sight. I'll be back in a couple minutes," Piotr commanded. To Kitty he said softly, "Keep an eye on them."

Piotr felt odd darting across the parking lot in just his pajama pants, but he reassured himself with the knowledge that it was still the middle of the night and there wasn't anyone around to see him. Because he didn't have any money on him, nor did any of the others, Piotr knew he had to make a collect call to the House. He could only hope someone was awake so the call didn't go to the answering machine. Rogue had simply told him to take the students to the House, but she had been worried and thinking about other things at the time. Piotr knew that taking the population of Xavier's school to the Brotherhood House was not going to be an acceptable idea to either group.

Luckily, the keys Rogue had pressed into his hand included the key to Darkholme. The club was big enough to hold all of them more than comfortably, and being soundproofed and lacking windows made it a good hiding place. The only problem was getting there; having been woken in the middle of the night, the children were already exhausted and they had not even reached downtown Salem Centre yet… Darkholme was still several miles and a town away. And that's why he was trying to call the House. He knew he could count on the Maximoff twins' loyalty to Rogue to make it okay for him to ask a favor.

Lifting the receiver to his ear and pressing the zero, Piotr gave the operator the necessary information to place the call, then waited. To his utter relief, Wanda picked up after the second ring and accepted the charges.

"What's wrong?" she immediately asked.

"Xavier's was invaded like Rogue came to warn us," Piotr replied. "Unfortunately she was only able to tell _me_ because Xavier and Summers went to see if Magneto knew anything about the attack on the White House while Storm and Grey were sent to track down the mutant responsible."

"Oh my god," Wanda swore. "Where _is_ Rogue, Piotr?"

Piotr hesitated for a second, unable to think of a way to lighten what he had to say. "I'm not sure. The last time I saw her she was sending me, with the kids we managed to round up, to the House while she went after the last two students. I don't think it's a good idea to go to the House, but I also have the key to Darkholme. I just don't have a way to get everyone there from where we are."

"How can you be so calm about Rogue being missing?" Wanda's voice nearly shrieked through the phone.

"Wanda, breathe," he ordered. "I'm not calm about that at all, but right now over fifty students are relying on me to keep them safe, something _Rogue_ entrusted me with. Besides, you and I both know what she's capable of and Wolverine would never let anything happen to her."

"So he was there too?" Wanda asked, her voice not as anxious as it had been.

"Yes."

Piotr let Wanda have a minute to collect herself. He'd had much more time to come to grips with the fact that his best friend was missing.

"Hold on a minute, Piotr," she finally said. "I'm going to call Rogue's cell on the other line."

"Alright," Piotr answered. "Tell her we're safe if you get a hold of her."

"I will."

Wanda was back a minute later, her voice once again strained. "It went straight to voicemail."

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Piotr commented. "The battery could have run out or it could have accidentally been turned off or dropped during the fighting."

"I hope you're right," Wanda said softly. She sighed heavily after a moment and added, "Pietro and I will be there as soon as we can to help you move the kids. Where are you?"

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Once Piotr had given her the relevant information, Wanda hung up the phone and filled Pietro in on Piotr's side of the phone call, her brother having listened to her side of it with a worried expression. A hard expression fell over his face as he learned about the attack on the school and Rogue's missing status.

"Let's go," he said when she was done.

Wanda's eyebrows rose. "I need to go get shoes on."

Pietro had just come home, but she'd been home a while, already having changed into more comfortable clothes, knowing she wouldn't sleep much until she knew Rogue was back home and safe. She hadn't known then, of course, what was going to happen, but she couldn't help not trusting Xavier and the X-Men, and Wanda was always nervous when Rogue went over there. It didn't help that tonight had been the first night in nearly two years that Rogue had elected to stay there… though Wanda supposed the Wolverine being there might have had a little to do with it, whether Rogue knew it consciously or not.

"Fine," Pietro responded. "I'll get two of the SUVs and pull them around to the front while I'm waiting."

Wanda jogged to her room to get her shoes. When she had put them on, she glanced around her room but didn't see anything she thought would be of use. She wished for a second that the clothes she'd recently given away to charity were still boxed in her room so she could give them to the students to help keep them comfortable however long they had to stay at Darkholme, but there wasn't anything that could be done about it. Grabbing her wallet out of her purse, she slipped it into the pocket of her sweatshirt, just in case she needed her identification. Satisfied that she was ready, she headed for the door.

Wanda opened the door, stopping in shock with the door half open at what she found on the other side. His hand raised as if to reach for the knob himself, the immediate area was filled by none other than her father, Rogue's adoptive mother slightly to the side and behind him.

And the first thought in Wanda's head was, 'How could she betray Marie that way?'

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"Hello, Wanda," Magneto greeted calmly.

His daughter was staring at him in obvious shock. Not exactly the greeting he had hoped for. Though he would be fine with she and her twin brother Pietro following him out of a mixture of fear of him and respect for his plans, he would have preferred the loyalty one usually associated with familial duty and feelings. But he had not known his son and daughter long before his plans to change the world leaders into mutants had necessitated relocating to one of his _hidden_ bases, and obviously his time in confinement had not engendered any greater feelings for him from his children, or at the very least this child.

The sound of a vehicle pulling around the drive had him glancing back over his shoulder to see Pietro in one of the SUVs kept at the House. The odd thing was that there was already another of the vehicles in front of it. He and Mystique had parked behind the first one. A second after the third vehicle had been put in park, Pietro was in the House next to his sister, the door now fully open.

"Father," the lightning-quick mutant greeted, waving he and Mystique into the House.

Stepping inside as if he were a guest instead of one of the owners of the domicile, Magneto took back just a little of his place as leader by walking to the first sitting room without a word. He felt much more at ease when the others followed without being prompted.

"Were the two of you going somewhere?" he asked when Wanda and Pietro remained standing when he and Mystique sat down.

"Just out," Pietro replied vaguely. "We're supposed to be meeting someone."

"And Rogue?" he added.

Wanda's eyes widened and she answered, "She's already out for the night."

"I see," Magneto nodded slowly. "In that case, we won't keep you. We can discuss the future of the Brotherhood after Mystique and I help take care of the latest threat."

Wanda and Pietro shared a look, and Pietro asked, "You mean Stryker?"

"Yes," Magneto answered. "I suppose Mystique told you before she came to free me."

"She called," Pietro confirmed simply. "It's great to have you back, Father, but we really gotta go."

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Mystique frowned internally when Pietro zipped away and Wanda started to follow him at a slower pace, the young woman hesitating when she got to the door, studiously avoiding looking at her father.

"Mystique, can I talk to you for a minute?" Wanda asked.

Magneto's eyebrows rose, but Mystique ignored him, following the younger woman out of the room and a little way down the hall.

"What's the real reason she's not here?" Mystique asked without preamble.

"She went to the School to warn Xavier and the others," Wanda responded. "But she left a message earlier letting me know that he and Cyclops left before she could, so she decided to stay the night…"

When Wanda visibly hesitated, Mystique prompted, "And?"

"And Piotr called a little while ago to tell us the School had been attacked and he needed to hide most of the student body at Darkholme. Pietro and I were headed to where they're currently hiding to start transporting them," Wanda finished.

Mystique felt her stomach twist with a foreboding feeling. "And Rogue?"

Wanda bit her lip before answering, "I don't know. Piotr thinks she's safe and with the Wolverine and two of the students, but he hasn't heard from her since they had to separate in the School and she's not answering her cell phone."

Having felt her heart stop when Wanda had said she didn't know Rogue's whereabouts, Mystique felt her inner tension ease slightly when she heard that the Wolverine was back in town. The adamantium-clawed feral wouldn't let anything happen to her daughter if he could possibly prevent it, he'd already proven that more than once. Until she and Magneto were able to meet up with what was left of the X-Men, and hopefully Rogue as well, it would have to do.

"You better go," she told Wanda. "Thank you for letting me know what's going on. I'll have to tell your father about the attack, but I'll wait until morning since there's nothing that can be done tonight anyway. Pass on to Piotr that Xavier and Summers were taken by Stryker when they went to visit Magneto; I'm sure it will factor in to what happens in the next couple of days."

Wanda nodded, and with an awkward wave, she was gone. Mystique made her way back to the sitting room, Magneto rising when she got there.

"Anything I need to know?" he drawled.

"Nothing that won't wait for morning," she answered. "Do you need me for anything more tonight? It's been a long day."

Magneto shook his head. "It will be refreshing to do things on my own without anyone watching my every move."

They walked together down the hall, each going their separate ways, she to the wing she shared with Rogue, Magneto to the one he had all to himself. Instead of going to her own room, however, Mystique ended up in her daughter's room, sitting in the comfortable chair near the bed. She felt guilty about freeing Magneto without warning Rogue, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell the younger woman about it. She had known Rogue would try to talk her out of it, but Mystique owed Magneto a lot more than Rogue knew. She could only hope Rogue would forgive her.

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When Wanda and Pietro finally showed up fifteen minutes later than he had expected them, Piotr barely stopped himself from chewing them out, only restraining himself because of the almost blank, shell-shocked look on Wanda's face and the fact that Pietro was tense in a way he'd never seen in the other man. Motioning for Kitty to stay with the students, Piotr walked forward to meet Wanda and Pietro far enough away that the kids wouldn't hear their conversation if they kept their voices down.

"Did something happen?" he asked the Maximoff twins.

When Wanda opened her mouth and then shut it again, Pietro answered flatly, "Father's out of jail. And according to what he told Mystique, a few hours before his escape, Xavier and Summers were taken into custody."

"Mystique…" Pitor trailed off, but it was still a question.

Wanda nodded shakily, and Piotr sighed.

"We have to find a way to warn Rogue," Pietro pointed out.

"Is her cell working yet?" Piotr asked.

Wanda shook her head, "No. I tried again on the way here. It's still going straight to her voicemail."

The trio was quiet for a moment, trying not to think of how many different ways something could have gone wrong, things that would prevent Rogue from answering her phone. It was Pietro who finally thought of another way to reach her.

"What about Emma Frost?"

Piotr smiled tightly. "That should work. We can call her as soon as we get everyone to Darkholme. Rogue keeps a set of contact numbers in that empty set of rooms above the bar, and I know Emma's is one of them."

It took several trips of the two SUVs, their seats taken out for more space, to get all of the students to Darkholme. The first set brought there included Kitty, who had been appointed to look after the other students until the transfers were complete, Piotr staying in the woods with those who remained until the last round. Once everyone had been moved, Piotr was able to change into an extra set of clothes he kept in the store room for emergencies, and he, Kitty and the twins discussed how to keep the kids fed while they were in hiding. Restrooms and water wouldn't be a problem in their new location, and the various booths and chairs would do for temporary beds when they were needed. Between the pool tables that had been brought back out since club night and the jukeboxes, which could be turned down so no one outside would hear them, there was at least a chance of keeping the students distracted for awhile.

When the logistics had been worked out and the kids were all settled in, Piotr called Emma Frost. Unfortunately, the telepath didn't answer the phone, and Piotr was forced to leave a message asking that the woman call Darkholme as soon as she got the message, no matter what time it was.

"We should get back," Pietro said when Piotr had relayed what happened. "We'll return in the morning with donuts and milk for everyone. Let us know the minute you hear from Miss Frost."

"I will," Piotr assured. "Thank you both for helping with this."

"Of course," Wanda dismissed his gratitude. "I guess we should tell Father that there's no point to going to Xavier's School in the morning since no one is there."

"Not necessarily," Piotr observed. "Storm and Dr. Grey went to Boston in the jet and should be back in the morning. Magneto working with them in this situation is probably going to be better for everyone than if he just tries to take care of it himself."

"You're right," Wanda acknowledged. "We'll mention it in the morning."

Minutes later the Maximoff twins were gone, and Piotr planted himself on a stool in front of the bar where he could keep an eye on the students and still get the phone quickly when it rang.

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Rogue knew it was in Logan's nature to head north to Canada instead of south and then east to Boston as he was now doing. The one in her head wanted to retreat there as well. Canada meant safety, familiarity. Logan was able to lose himself in the wilderness, and the times when that wasn't an option, there were still many small towns and cities that were populated by people who didn't get into your business if you stayed out of theirs. For a moment, Rogue wondered if he would ever want to take her there, to show her his world.

But she acknowledged that meeting up with the two X-Women was one of their very few real options, and by far the best one. Time was of the essence, because whatever it was Stryker really had planned, he wasn't going to wait until it was more convenient for them to stop him before he took action. Because of her knowledge of Logan's preference, though, as well as the fact that he was probably regretting not finding out what he could from Stryker, she was more understanding of his sullen mood than the two boys with them.

They had kept to the back roads and speeds that were definitely not legal for the first half hour after leaving the mansion. Sure by then that no one was coming after them, Logan headed for the main roads and highway 2, which would take them to Interstate 91. The speed limit was actually observed now, and Logan instructed Rogue and the two boys to fasten their seatbelts. There was no way of knowing if the local police or highway patrol were on the lookout for the 'fugitives' but it was better to not give a reason to be pulled over at all rather than find out too late that they were. It took another hour to travel the distance to the interstate. Before he could get onto it, however, John piped up from the backseat with the request that they pull over somewhere with a restroom.

When it looked like Logan was about to snap at John for the suggestion, Rogue voiced her desire for something to drink. Logan turned his head to look at her, his gaze softening considerably when she smiled beseechingly at him. They found a gas station with a 24-hour mini-mart without too much trouble, and Rogue went inside to buy them all bottles of water, along with a bottle of extra strength Tylenol for herself. She also got a few extra plastic bags for the two teenagers to tie around their feet so they could use the public restroom with less worry about what they were putting their feet in.

Knowing they still had a long drive ahead of them during which she would have to be seated the whole time, Rogue leaned against the driver's side of the car while the two boys were taking care of business, watching Logan as he filled the car with gas. He was done quickly, probably only needing to replace the gas they'd used so far in their getaway, and he moved over to her with a determined look. She raised her chin to look up at him when he stood directly in front of her, but didn't otherwise react. Logan lifted a hand to thread his fingers through her white streak as he had at Darkholme, and Rogue had to fight the shiver that raced down her spine at the memory of the night before. Evidently Logan was reliving the same memories, because his eyes darkened and he stepped in even closer, trapping Rogue between his legs, his eyes falling to her lips.

"Logan," she nearly whimpered, feeling the look almost tangibly.

"Marie," he whispered back, his arms folding around her when she leaned forward and buried her face against the front of his white tank.

Rogue looped one arm around his waist, the other awkwardly by her side holding the bag from the mini-mart. She felt Logan press a kiss to the top of her head over her hair and smiled into his shirt, inhaling deeply to ground herself with his scent. In addition to Logan's usual masculine scent and the smell of clean sweat, there was a trace of gunpowder. Someone had fired a gun very close to him.

Leaning back enough to meet his eyes, Rogue asked worriedly, "Did you get shot with one of those automatic rifles?"

Logan shook his head and frowned slightly, "Why did you ask _now_?"

"You smell a little of gunpowder," she told him.

"Still have my mutations?" he asked, surprise lacing his tone.

She nodded slowly, her voice hesitant as she said, "I didn't think you'd mind me holding onto them. The you in my head was fine with it."

"It's more than fine," he assured her. "Anything that helps you is great and…"

But whatever else he had been about to say was lost when he shifted his gaze over the car in the direction the boys had gone.

"We'll talk more later when this mess is taken care of," he said gently as he stepped away, and she immediately felt cold without his arms around her…not physically, it was deeper than that, and she was well bundled… but she knew the two boys had to be walking back to the car.

Rogue nodded and headed around to the other side to wait for Bobby to get back in so she could. As Logan got on the interstate, she passed out the water, opening her own to wash down a couple of the Tylenol. Logan frowned at her as she did, and she knew he was confused about why she would need the pills if she still had his healing factor along with his other mutations. But she wasn't comfortable talking about her weaknesses in front of people she didn't fully trust. With John and Bobby in easy hearing distance, she was not about to go into the fact that she got headaches when she used more than one gift for an extended period of time and that his healing factor never really seemed to affect the headaches.

They were on interstate 91 for about forty-five minutes; traffic was very light because of the exceedingly early hour. The transfer to interstate 90 east, which would take them directly into Boston on the last but longest leg of the trip, had only passed ten minutes before when Rogue drifted to sleep.

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"Marie."

The combination of Logan's voice and a hand gently shaking her thigh woke Rogue. She was surprised and slightly disturbed at first that he had used her real name, but a glance in the backseat revealed that both John and Bobby were sound asleep.

"Is something wrong?" she asked groggily, noting to herself that the sun had recently risen and they were still on the interstate.

Glancing at the clock in the car's dashboard, she saw that it had been nearly six hours since they had left Xavier's Institute, putting the time at nearly seven in the morning.

"No, nothing's wrong," he answered. "I just don't know where Bobby's house is, and if I had raised my voice to wake him it would have woken you as well. Thought I'd wake you first."

Smiling at the knowledge that he had thought of her comfort first, Rogue nodded. She sat up straighter and stretched, aware of Logan watching her from the corner of his eye. Turning to look into the backseat, Rogue started to reach for Bobby's knee to shake him awake when she remembered that she had dropped her gloves in the school, and Bobby was wearing shorts.

"Logan, you better wake him," she said flatly, waving her uncovered hand in the air for emphasis.

"Sorry, darlin," he fairly growled. "Forgot you didn't have your gloves on you."

"S'alright," she murmured.

"Hey," he said sharply but still low enough not to wake the boys, causing her to look over at him. Settling his right hand on her thigh again with a light squeeze, he said warmly, "It's not your fault."

She smiled in acknowledgment. Apparently satisfied, Logan removed his hand from her leg.

Clearing his throat loudly, Logan called normal volume, "Bobby." The teenager made a mumbling noise but didn't wake, and Logan tried again, more firmly this time, "Iceman!"

With a start, Bobby snapped awake, bumping into John who woke too as a result. Bobby wiped the sleep from his eyes and asked what was going on. Rogue explained that Logan needed to know how to get to his house, and the rest of the drive was silent except for Bobby's occasional directions. Instead of parking directly in front of the Drake home, Logan pulled the blue sports car down the block and around the corner. When Rogue gave him a questioning look about it, he shook his head and motioned to the backseat with just his eyes, making Rogue realize that he was doing it for safety reasons in case the meeting with Bobby's parents didn't go well.

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It was nearly seven thirty in the morning when Logan found himself standing on the porch of Bobby Drake's house, hoping that he'd be able to get in touch with Storm and Jean soon so they wouldn't be trapped too long in this picturesque suburbia. It wasn't just his discomfort being stuck in a world he'd never fit into completely that had him feeling anxious.

Time was of the essence, both in finding out Stryker's true objectives and in being able to meet up with what was left of the X-Men before they left the Boston area. They didn't have the luxury of waiting for the jet to make the trip back from the mansion. So they had to find a way to contact Storm and Jean before _they_ left Boston.

"Kid, we probably look a little odd with the two of you standing out here in your pajamas," Logan said dryly when Bobby made to knock for the third time. "Are you telling me you don't know another way into your own house?"

Bobby sighed and answered, "I didn't want to just barge in unannounced, especially since it's not just me. And as you pointed out, John and I aren't fully dressed. My parents might freak out before I could explain anything."

He moved to a large rock in the flower bed in front of the porch, tipping it over to reveal a hollow section containing a set of keys. Putting the rock back precisely where it had been, he hurried to the door and unlocked it, leading the way into the house.

"Mom? Dad? Ronny?" Bobby called loudly. "Is anybody home?"

John started playing with a lighter Logan hadn't noticed before, and Bobby glanced at his friend before saying, "I'll get us some clothes. Don't burn anything."

He and John started heading up the stairs until Rogue spoke softly.

"Bobby, could I use the ladies' room?" she asked politely.

"Of course!" he answered, gesturing for her to follow him up to the second floor. "It's that first door on the left."

Left alone, Logan moved down the main hallway into the open kitchen. He pulled the comm device from his pocket and opened it, holding it to his ear.

Despite the fact that all he could hear was static, he said into it, "Hello, hello?"

With a sigh of defeat, he closed the device and slid it back into his pocket.

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Bobby was waiting in the hall, already dressed, when Rogue came out of the bathroom. He held out a pair of white, elbow length gloves to her when she approached.

"These were my grandmother's," he told her awkwardly. "My mom doesn't wear gloves."

"Thanks, Bobby," she smiled.

Rogue?

Startled by Emma Frost's voice suddenly appearing in her head, it took Rogue a second to concentrate internally and respond. Emma?

I take it you're okay? The telepath asked. Piotr was worried. As were Wanda and Pietro.

I'm fine, considering the circumstances. You can tell Piotr that Bobby, John, Logan and myself are all okay. We're in Boston at Bobby's house, hoping to meet up with Jean Grey and Storm.

I'll pass that on, Emma responded. But there's something _you_ need to know as well.

What is it? Rogue asked, her skin crawling with a foreboding sensation.

There was a noticeable pause before Emma's answer, and her astral voice was much more gentle than Rogue had ever heard it. Magneto's out.

As the words she had dreaded hearing for more than two years echoed in her head, Rogue automatically shut down the connection between she and Emma, not wanting anyone else in her head at the moment. When her eyes focused to find Bobby watching her with a look that bored between worried and suspicious, she grounded herself in the moment. In the fact that there were still a lot of other things to worry about and get through before she had to deal with what Magneto's return would mean to nearly every aspect of her life.

"I was contacted telepathically," she explained lightly to let Bobby know why she had zoned out on him.

Bobby's interest peaked, "Was it the Professor or Dr. Grey?"

"No," Rogue answered. She'd tried contacting the older man during the drive with no luck, not mentioning it for exactly that reason. "I can't get through to the Professor. And since I have repeatedly asked Dr. Grey to stay out of my head, I'm reluctant to try to get through to her until all other options have been exhausted."

Bobby sighed but nodded his acknowledgment, turning to lead the way back down to the first floor of his parent's house.

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Logan stopped the pacing he'd been reveling in for the last several minutes and opened the refrigerator. He sniffed lightly but found nothing of greater interest than a few bottles of beer. He took one out and popped the top off. Suddenly hearing a heartbeat behind him, which couldn't have come from Marie or either of the two boys since they were upstairs and would have come from the opposite direction. He stuck his arm out behind him, popping his claws at what ended up being a rather fluffy cat. The animal, completely nonplused, began licking the sides of the metal. Logan gave the cat an indulgent look.

At the sound of the front door opening, Logan put his claws away and moved to be in view of the door. A woman, probably in her early forties, followed behind a teenage boy. Both froze when they saw him.

From behind them a male voice was saying, "Hey, Ronny. Next time you…"

The middle-aged looking man trailed off when he saw that the woman and boy were staring at Logan.

"Who the hell are you?" the man demanded.

All four heads turned when Bobby pounded down the stairs, freezing in place when he saw the people who'd come into the house. He glanced nervously at Logan, then up the stairs where Rogue was coming down behind him, before turning back to the newcomers again.

In a surprised tone, the man said, "Bobby!"

The woman, who Logan now knew to be Bobby's mother, asked, "Honey, aren't you supposed to be at school?"

Marie came slowly down the rest of the stairs, but Bobby's parents were, understandably in Logan's opinion, more concerned with the grown man dinking a beer in their kitchen.

"Bobby, who is this guy?" his father asked.

Bobby glanced back at Logan with a strained expression, "Uh, this is Professor Logan." After a pause, he added flatly, "There's something I need to tell you."

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John loped down the stairs shortly after Bobby's announcement, and the tension increased, John's belligerent attitude not helping anything. The entire group moved to the living room, Bobby's mother taking time out to make herself some coffee, everyone else refusing her offer of the beverage.

Logan leaned against the wall in the back of the room, close to a sliding glass door that led out into the backyard. John had parked himself on a piece of cabinetry against another wall; Bobby, his mother and brother were on the sofa and his father sat in the chair kiddy corner to the couch. Rogue, though she would rather have stayed near Logan, decided to show the support the other two mutants refused to give for their own reasons and sat next to Bobby.

Bobby haltingly told his parents about discovering he was a mutant when he was fourteen. How the Professor had contacted him first to tell Bobby that he could learn control at the Institute, and that that was why he had agreed so readily to leave home to go to school when Xavier had eventually contacted Mr. and Mrs. Drake. When he was done, Bobby's parents looked shocked, his younger brother Ronny sulking in his slouched position on the sofa. Bobby's mother was the first to speak.

"So, uh, when did you first know you were a…" she visibly hesitated.

Flicking his lighter closed with a particularly loud snap, John bit off impatiently, "A mutant?"

Bobby's mother gave John a quelling look. "Would you cut that out?"

John snapped the lighter shut one last time with a defiant glare at the woman. Rogue completely understood his hostility, but she knew making this more of a confrontation than it already was would only hurt Bobby in the end. John was too angry and jealous to see what this was doing to his friend.

"You have to understand," Mr. Drake tried to explain. "We thought Bobby was going to a school for the gifted."

Noticing how miserable Bobby looked and knowing John wouldn't come to Bobby's defense, Rogue decided to stick her nose in. As odd as her own family was, they did take her for who she was, and she felt sorry at the thought that Bobby might get kicked out of his family just because of a quirk of his genes. "Bobby _is_ gifted."

Bobby's father nodded tiredly, "We know that. We just didn't realize he was…"

"We still love you, Bobby," his mother said with a desperate tone. "It's just that this mutant problem is a little…"

"What mutant problem?" Logan snapped.

Bobby's mother glanced back at Logan, finishing her sentence with a condescending and put out air, "Complicated."

Mr. Drake asked suspiciously, "What exactly are you a Professor _of_, Mr. Logan?"

"Art," Logan replied gruffly.

To draw attention away from the ensuing staring match between the two men and her own urge to laugh at the thought of Logan teaching art, Rogue said gently, "Well, you should see what Bobby can do."

In the moments before Rogue had spoken, Mrs. Drake had taken a sip of her coffee. As she moved to set her cup back in its saucer in her other hand. Bobby leaned forward and froze the liquid with the mere touch of a fingertip on the outside of the cup.

"Bobby!" his mother gasped.

She dumped the ice into the saucer on the coffee table's surface, sitting back and staring at it as if afraid it might bite her.

Bobby, somewhat proudly, stated, "I can do a lot more than that."

Rogue was glad he was at least still sure enough in his own skin not to sound ashamed of his mutation. A cat leapt up onto the table to lick the coffee dome in the saucer, purring as it enjoyed the treat. John chuckled, and Ronny suddenly bolted from couch and up the stairs.

"Oh, Ronny!" Bobby's mother hung her head. "This is all my fault."

John spoke up gleefully, "Actually, they discovered that males are the ones who carry the mutant gene and pass it on." He nodded in Bobby's father's direction, "So it's his fault."

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Ronny stalked angrily upstairs and slammed the door to his room shut. He couldn't believe this was happening in _his_ family… that _his brother_ was one of those freaks people talked about on the news all the time. Bobby was the popular one, the one that made friends where ever he went, who got top grades in all his subjects. And though their parents had never come right out and said, "why can't you be more like your brother," Ronny had felt it for most of his life. Well, he wasn't going to emulate that… that _freak_ anymore.

He must have left his TV on when they had left the house earlier, because there was a report on the small TV about fugitives from an institution in Westchester County, NY being wanted… and that was where Bobby's precious school was. Ronny picked up the phone and dialed 911, hearing himself tell the dispatcher that he and his parents were being held hostage in their own home.

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After John's snide remark there was an awkward silence, until a beeping was suddenly heard. Mr. and Mrs. Drake looked in the general direction of the younger mutants, but Logan realized quickly that it was him the noise was coming from. The comm device was finally working, evidently.

"It's for me," he excused himself.

As he walked into the backyard through the sliding glass door, he almost snorted when he heard Mrs. Drake ask, "Bobby… have you tried _not_ being a mutant?"

"Hello," he said into the device when he was safely outside where the Drakes wouldn't hear just how desperate their son's situation really was.

"Logan?" Jean's voice sounded surprised. "Why are you on a comm device? And why aren't you at the school?"

Logan answered succinctly, "No one's left, Jean. Soldiers came."

Before he could say more, Storm interrupted, "What about the children?"

"Rogue, Bobby and John are with me," Logan said. "Some of the others escaped with Piotr Rasputin; I'm not sure about the rest."

Jean voice sounded again, desperate this time, "We haven't been able to reach the Professor or Scott either."

Logan had no idea what could have happened to the two men since they hadn't been at the school when it had been invaded, so he didn't say anything.

Storm more calmly asked, "Where are you, Logan?"

"Boston, with Bobby Drake's family."

"Okay, we're on our way."

Looking at the tense situation he'd left in the family room, Logan added, "And Storm? Make it fast."

Logan closed the comm device and slipped it into his pocket. He had just reached for the door handle when he heard hushed footsteps too close to be snooping neighbors. Stilling, he focused on the reflection of the yard showing in the surface of the sliding glass door. Uniformed policemen were surrounding the house, and they already had their guns drawn. Logan quickly went into the house, shutting and locking the door behind him.

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"We have to go now," Logan announced the second he was back inside.

Rogue stood immediately in response to his tone, and John popped up shortly after, but Bobby looked hesitant.

Bobby asked, "Why?"

"You can stay with your family if you want, but we're going, now," Logan replied.

John queried, almost excitedly, "What is it?"

Logan didn't answer, simply heading for the front door with his claws out. Rogue scurried to keep up, John right behind her. Though Bobby followed, Rogue could tell it was reluctantly. His parents made no move to stop him from going, however, so when Logan stepped out onto the front porch, Rogue and the two boys were right behind him, John in the middle. Police surrounded the front of the house. There were even a few squad cars parked on the lawn. A uniformed female officer stood to their left, a youngish looking man on the right. Both had their weapons drawn and aimed at Logan.

"Drop the knives and put your hands in the air," the male cop ordered, inexperienced if the look of fear was anything to go by.

"What's going on here?" Logan muttered.

Rogue shared his confusion. The group in front of them was obviously just the local police, so there was no way this was related to the invasion of the mansion.

"Ronny," Bobby breathed, disappointment clear in his tone.

Rogue heard the sound of shattering glass behind them in the house, followed by Bobby's mother screaming in fright and unfamiliar voices shouting. Obviously there would be no escape in that direction.

"This is just a misunderstanding," Logan tried the innocent act.

The male cop wasn't convinced. "Put the knives _down_."

"I can't," Logan replied, lifting his arms on either side to show the cops that his 'knives' were physically attached to him. "Look."

The male cop shot Logan in the head, who fell full length with a rather loud _thunk_ to the porch surface. Rogue screamed involuntarily, despite the fact that she knew he would recover. Seeing the man you loved shot in the head, even if he had a healing factor, was a heart-stopping experience.

The cop, though he looked a bit shaken at the fact that he'd just shot someone, ordered, "All right, the rest of you, on the ground now."

Bobby and Rogue both lay down. Erik showed Rogue his memory of the night she'd been kidnapped off the train. Toad had been carrying her, and Magneto had used his power to disarm the entire police force and toss around a couple of their vehicles. She knew Erik meant it as a suggestion of how to get out of this, but she wouldn't try it because she wasn't sure what that many magnetic fields would do to Logan laying an arm's reach away.

The male cop said to John, who hadn't lain down, "Look, kid, I said on the ground."

The female cop chimed in, her voice coaxing, "We don't want to hurt you, kid."

Rogue looked up, afraid that John had perhaps frozen in shock and was about to be shot, only to see him smiling as if the female cop's comment was funny.

"You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about on the news?" John asked loudly, "_I'm_ the worst one."

In one smooth motion, he opened and ignited the lighter he'd been playing with earlier, sending a large fireball at the cop that had shot Logan. Seconds later John was sending another fireball at the female cop. She too, flew backwards, and John laughed, firing back through the house and then at the cars in rapid succession. Something seemed to have snapped in John, and he looked to be enjoying himself a bit too much, laughing maniacally as he coaxed the different fires he had set to burn higher and higher.

Rogue took off one glove and wrapped her hand around his ankle, concentrating on taking his ability alone. Within seconds she had outstretched her other arm, willing the fires to subside and then go out completely. She had to take just the tiniest bit of John's life energy when he refused to stop feeding the flames with his power. It was just enough to show him she was serious, enough to make him stop. Just as she was smothering the last fire, she heard a small _plink, _realizing it was the bullet being pushed out by Logan's healing skin and landing on the porch. A moment later he woke up.

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Logan woke to the sound of the X-men's Blackbird jet landing, partially in the street and part on the lawn. When he stood so did Bobby and Marie. Evidently John had never followed the cops' instructions. Glancing at the scorched and smoldering scene the lawn and parts of the house had become, Logan accepted that not listening was the least of John's actions. But what had made him stop?

Logan glanced back at John with a frown, noting his slightly tired appearance. His gaze drifted further to Marie, who was putting back on the second of a pair of gloves that Logan knew from in the house smelled of mothballs. So his Marie had learned enough control to only tire another mutant while taking their mutation, at least for a little while. Logan was proud of her, and considering his healing factor, he was also very curious as to what it could mean for them if their relationship continued to unfold the way he hoped it would.

Bobby headed for the jet, and the others followed; Logan brought up the rear, giving Marie's covered arm a light squeeze as she passed him. The cop who had shot Logan peaked over the hedge at the edge of the lawn, and Logan glared at him, daring him to try anything. The man swallowed hard and stayed where he was. Logan followed John up the ramp into the jet, glancing back at Bobby who had waited at the bottom of the ramp. The boy was looking up at his family in a second floor window. Despite the fact that he had almost cost four people their lives with his vindictive, childish call to the police, Bobby's parents had their arms around the boy comfortingly. Holding his head high, Bobby turned and walked into the jet, not letting his head hang until he was out of sight of his family. Logan couldn't help feeling sorry for the kid.

"Guten tag," a dark blue man with yellow eyes, pointed ears and a tail greeted as the foursome moved to the front of the jet where the seats were located.

John, Bobby and Logan all sat down. Logan noticed that Marie was a bit slower in her motions, staring at the blue man. And it wasn't in a shocked or disgusted way. In fact it almost made him jealous, the amount of interest Marie was showing this other man.

"Who the hell is this?" Logan growled as he sat down.

The blue man answered with a smile, showing a mouthful of fang-like teeth and an obvious German accent, "Kurt Wagner. But in the Munich Circus, I was known as the Incredible Nightcrawler…"

"Yeah, save it," Logan replied when Marie smiled openly in response to the man's showy self-introduction. "Storm?"

"We're outta here," Storm said to his heavily hinting tone.

The jet's takeoff was a bit bumpy, and Logan couldn't help the "Whoa," that escaped. When enough time had passed that the tension from the smaller group's adventure with the police had worn out to be replaced by the anxiety felt by all of them over their greater, still looming conflict, Logan stood from his seat behind Storm. He walked the few steps necessary to reach the front of the jet, leaning against Storm and Jean's chair backs.

"How far are we?" Logan asked.

He wasn't entirely sure where they were headed, though he would guess back to 'home base' to regroup and see if they could find any clues left behind by the invasion force. Jean's words confirmed his thoughts.

"We're actually coming up on the mansion now," Jean answered.

The radar console between the two women began beeping, and Storm looked down at it. "I've got two signals approaching." She glanced up at Logan, a hint of fear in her dark eyes, "They're coming in fast."

Several seconds later, a female voice, a bit fuzzy, came over the communications system. "Unidentified aircraft, you are ordered to descend to 20,000 feet. Return with our escort to Hanson Air Force Base. You have ten seconds to comply."

"Wow, somebody's angry," Storm observed.

Logan glanced back at John and remarked dryly, "I wonder why."

Immediately, the female voice was heard again. "We are coming up alongside you to escort you to Hanson Air Force Base. Lower your altitude now." After a slight pause, the voice continued, "Repeat, lower your altitude to twenty thousand feet. This is your last warning."

"They're falling back." Storm commented. The beeping from the radar system suddenly began emitting a more urgent noise, and Storm glanced down at it before saying tensely, "They're marking us."

Unable to believe even the military would fire that quickly, especially when it meant losing the chance to salvage advanced technology, Logan responded, "What!"

"They're going to fire," Storm confirmed. "Hang on!"

Logan went back to his seat, knowing he wouldn't remain standing once evasive maneuvers began. Everyone was scrambling to buckle himself or herself in, and Logan felt a flash of worry when he could hear Marie having trouble with the buckle in her seat behind him.

"I gotta shake them," was the only warning Storm gave before causing the jet to dip and turn in ways Logan was pretty sure it hadn't been designed for.

"Please don't do that again," John yelped when they were once more level after what felt like a barrel roll.

"I agree," Logan grunted. After a slight pause, he asked, "Don't we have any weapons on this heap?"

Storm must have finally started to use her powers, because the sky began to rapidly darken and before Logan knew it they were flying through twisters. He kept his gaze on the radar, breathing easy when first one and then the other of the two blips signifying the military jets disappeared.

Once Storm had cleared the sky, Jean asked, "Everybody okay back there?"

"No," Logan growled.

He was sure he had left his stomach a few turns back. He wondered briefly if his healing factor would grow him a new one. He knew he had bigger worries when a second later the beeping came back, more urgent than ever.

"Oh my god," Storm said when she looked at the radar screen. "There are two of them."

Logan didn't ask what she was referring to, knowing somehow that one of the military jets had been able to fire two anti-aircraft missiles before it had gone done in Storm's tornado maze. A red glow caught Logan's attention from the corner of his eye and he looked over at Jean to find her with eyes firmly shut, concentrating visibly. After what seemed to take forever to Logan, one of the small blips on the radar screen disappeared. But the second one was still coming, and it was getting ever closer.

"There's one more." Storm sounded absolutely frantic, "_Jean_!"

"Oh, God!" Jean gasped, her eyes flying open.

A second later the Blackbird was hit, jostled roughly as if a giant had suddenly snatched it out of the air and given it a good shake. They lost pressure, and Logan was disturbed by the sensation of the breathable air being sucked toward the back.

"Rogue!" Bobby yelled suddenly.

Logan snapped his head around to stare, horror-struck, as the woman he loved was sucked out of the gaping hole in the back of the jet.

"_No_!" he roared feelingly.

He was about to slice through his own seatbelt, knowing now that Marie's had never been buckled, and join her when he noticed that Nightcrawler had disappeared from his still clasped seatbelt, a few curls of dark smoke dissipating quickly in the still volatile atmosphere.

'Bring her back to me and I will owe you more than I can ever repay,' Logan thought, closing his eyes tightly in hope.

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Rogue squeezed her eyes shut as she fell through the sky. She was still moving too fast to breathe properly, the air having been sucked from her lungs when she had been sucked from the Blackbird, and the spinning was making her slightly nauseous, the varying, spinning sights of the endless sky and the fast-approaching earth not helping. She had just started to center herself enough to slow her descent with the power of her own flight when a pair of slim but strong arms wrapped around her and she opened her eyes to stare into Kurt's yellow ones for a split second before the smell of sulfur curled through her sense and they were back in the jet.

Dipping her head to rest lightly on his coat, Rogue closed her eyes again. The vertigo had yet to leave her, but she'd have to get up soon if she was going to save them from the freefall the Blackbird was in. Before she could, however, the jet steadied and slowed. She could feel the pieces of ragged metal behind her where she had been pulled out closing to once again seal the interior of the jet. Even if she didn't want to believe it, Rogue knew who had just saved them.

She heard Storm question, "Jean?"

"It's not me!" Jean replied.

Feeling his arms slacken their hold now that the jet's descent had stopped completely, Rogue angled herself upward from on top of Kurt… though she supposed she should call him Nightcrawler until they had a chance to get to know each other. Rogue was careful not to harm her older foster brother as she climbed off of him to stand, joining the rest of the jet's occupants in staring out of the front view screen… directly at Magneto and Mystique.

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Magneto chuckled as the X-Men and the other people visible inside the jet simply stared at them.

"When will these people learn how to fly?" he asked rhetorically.

Mystique smiled tightly because he expected some sort of answer, but her gaze never left that of her daughter. She couldn't help wondering how quickly Rogue would now be _flying_ out of her life… and if it would be for good.

**_To be continued…_**


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

Sorry for the delay. Last Saturday was spent worrying about one of my brothers (you can visit my DA account and read my journal to find out why, the link is in my profile) and Sunday I had the migraine from Hades. And work, of course, slows what I can get done on weekdays. It also didn't help that the last chapter got a lot less reviews, thereby sapping me of some of my incentive, but oh well, I still love this story and as long as at least a few of you feel the same, I'll keep going. So thank you very, very much to those who faithfully continue to review, you're more appreciated than you know.

A couple people complained about the lack of action in the last chapter. It (and this one) was more of a transitional chapter than anything, the next big "action" part of the story will be when they're at the Alkali compound. Action is not really my forte; my stories tend to be more character driven, so I'm sorry for those of you who prefer more action-oriented stories. Anyway, enjoy.

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The longer Rogue stared out of the front window at the woman who had adopted her, the deeper her stomach sank. Part of her refused to believe what she was seeing, but she had already had the suspicion that Mystique had something to do with it when Emma had passed the message on from Piotr that Magneto was out. Because who else had the brains to help him escape from prison, and a specialized, secret facility at that? Certainly not Sabretooth, and none of the Brotherhood members she had been living with had ever shown a hint of even thinking about trying to do something about Magneto's confinement.

She was dimly aware of the jet being set gently down on the ground and the other people in the Blackbird unbuckling themselves and getting up from their seats. Logan was the first to head to the back where the ramp was being lowered, the two X-Men and Nightcrawler quickly following. John and Bobby stayed close to the adults. But Rogue couldn't move. How was she going to get through what was coming, knowing she would have nothing to go back to? Her mother was back with the man who had killed her, his children and followers would surely choose to rejoin him, and the place Rogue had been living for the past year and a half could no longer be her home. She reached out almost unwillingly to the woman whose gaze had remained locked on hers.

Why? Rogue hoped her astral voice didn't sound as destroyed as she felt.

I'm so sorry, Marie, Mystique thought back. I…

No! Rogue interrupted firmly. You _don't_ get to call me that anymore.

I should have told you what I was going to do, Mystique continued. But I just… couldn't. I've made him promise not to go after you, Ma-Rogue.

Rogue's eyes narrowed, and she refused to give in to the overwhelming urge to cry. And you believe him? After what he did to me, after what he did to _us_ so he would get away with doing that to me?

Before Mystique could respond, Rogue was grabbed from behind and spun to be pulled against a familiar muscled chest. Biting back a sob and shutting down the connection with Mystique, Rogue ardently returned Logan's embrace.

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Logan held Marie tightly to him, inhaling her scent deeply on every indrawn breath to calm himself. A second after he had grabbed her, Marie had hugged him back, wrapping her slender arms around his waist and burying her face into the front of his tank. He had only gotten as far as the back of the jet before seeing the signs of damage there (the scorch marks hadn't been affected by Magneto's closing of the punctured structure) had twisted his stomach so hard he thought he'd be physically sick. He was having a hard time fighting off the residual feelings of fear at almost having lost her… again. The presence of two of the people who had almost succeeded in taking her from him before wasn't helping.

One hand locked in Marie's hair while the other searched what Logan could reach of her body for injury, but she seemed none the worse for the wear considering she had been sucked out of a crashing jet. He forced himself to start to relax. She was still here, still alive.

He got a whiff of sulfur when he dipped his head to bury his nose in her hair, probably from the trick of Nightcrawler's mutation that had allowed the blue man to save Marie. He nuzzled his face deeper into her hair then continued to snuggle against her as he moved from one side of her head, over the top and down the other side, replacing Nightcrawler's scent with his own. Nothing brought out his possessive side quite like a Marie-near-death experience. A needy whimper rose from the woman in his arms, and Logan let a deep, comforting growl sound from his chest in response.

Marie lifted her head to meet his gaze steadily with hers. "Logan, I have to tell you something…"

"I'm so glad you're okay," he broke in, his voice trembling. Maybe he wasn't as pulled together as he had thought he was. "If something had happened to you…"

"Logan," she said his name comfortingly. "Even if Kurt hadn't teleported to get me, I would have been okay. I…"

"Okay?" he asked incredulously, his arms tightening slightly around her. "Even if I had jumped out of the jet after you, which I was going to do until the blue guy went after you, who knows if I would have been able to get to you in time to do any good."

"I still have your healing," Marie responded gently. "But Logan, there's something else I need to…"

Marie was interrupted this time by Jean walking in and announcing, "Logan, I need you to come with Storm and I to talk to Magneto. And Rogue, if it's not too much trouble, you can help Bobby and John set up a campsite. We're going to be stuck here until I can fix the jet."

Logan wanted to growl at the redhead for interrupting he and Marie, but Marie was already stepping away from him. And she was right to do so. Once again, this wasn't the time or place for them to have a heart-to-heart. When Logan told her all he needed to and she filled him in on her life without him the past two years, he wanted them to be somewhere they wouldn't be interrupted. Where no one would overhear them or butt in on what should be private. Where reconnecting could lead to the possibility of more.

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Bobby came back into the jet shortly after Jean, a mad John following behind. Evidently he didn't feel set-up duties should be his responsibility. John slammed a cabinet in the wall open, tugging out what appeared to be a nylon duffle bag. Bobby winced at his friend's action but opened another compartment to pull another one out without comment.

"Don't bother yet, my young friend," a new voice ordered. "The jet must be moved before we set up any sort of camp. We're too close to Charles' school and in view of a road here."

Rogue's hands curled into fists, and she made to take a step toward Magneto. The only thing that stopped her was Logan beating her to the punch. He strode angrily right up to the metal manipulator, his claws shooting out with a speed Pietro would have been proud of.

"Who the hell do you think you are, bub?" Logan growled, pointing his claws into Magneto's face. "Tell me why I shouldn't gut you where you stand."

"You _couldn't_," Magneto retorted, lifting a hand and causing Logan to lower his before releasing him. "But I'm not here to fight any of you. The problem you are all about to face is bigger than you could possibly realize and you _will_ need my help to stop it. And I did just save your miserable, ungrateful lives."

Logan growled threateningly, but Jean was the one who verbally responded.

"So we have your word that there is a truce between us until this is over?"

Magneto looked disdainful at the question, but inclined his head in answer.

"And how do you propose we move the jet?" Jean asked. "I haven't been able to do a diagnostic yet, but I assure you it's going to take a lot more than a few minutes to get it back in flying condition."

"Let me worry about that," Magneto answered. "First a location to move it to needs to be scouted. May I suggest we get to it before the military comes back to check on you?"

With that, Magneto swept back out of the jet, and Rogue found it much easier to breathe. Everyone filed out of the jet slowly, no one eager to work with Magneto, no matter how right he might be.

Because going closer to the school or to any roads would defeat the purpose of moving the jet, there was only so much area to cover. They split into groups, Logan following Magneto and Mystique to make sure they didn't try anything, Jean, Kurt and Storm heading out together, and John and Bobby following slowly as Rogue plunged into the woods. She quickly left them behind, knowing they were both caught up in their own thoughts, none of which likely had much to do with their current situation. Bobby and John weren't focusing on the task at hand, and Rogue couldn't blame them.

Tired of branches snagging in her hair and tugging at the track pants she was wearing over her uniform, Rogue took to the air, staying just above the treetops so she was less likely to be spotted. It helped her to have a pretty much mindless task at the moment. It allowed her to build up her inner defenses against reacting the way she wanted to in the circumstances, promising herself that she could have a good cry and destroy something just as soon as she had helped stop Stryker and gotten Decipher and the other kids back home.

Rogue wasn't sure how much time had passed when she finally found a clearing that was the right size to hold the jet and still leave room for a campsite. Landing lightly on the grass, she tapped the earbud Jean had grudgingly given her when the telekinetic telepath had passed them out before the group had dispersed.

"This is Rogue," she reported briskly. "I've found a spot."

"Very well," Storm's voice came back to her. "Jean and I are headed back to the jet to lock your coordinates into the system. Stay there until we contact you. Everyone else, meet us back at the jet."

"Are you forgetting your precious jet can't be flown?" Magneto's voice sounded. "_Everyone_ go back to the jet, and Rogue will lead us to the place she found."

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Logan stalked Magneto and Mystique back to the jet. The shapeshifter had glanced sidelong at him a few times, but Magneto was ignoring his presence. Not that Logan cared what the buckethead thought of him. He just didn't want to give either of them a chance to go back on their word over the temporary truce and go after Marie. He'd die before he let her fall back into their clutches.

He had to admit, however, that having more people on their side who could actually fight wasn't going to hurt in whatever it was they were going to have to face. Logan almost missed Scott. At least the other man had a mutation he could control with the help of his visor. Jean's command of her own power was sketchy at best from what Logan had seen, and though Storm's power was formidable in its own right, there wasn't a whole lot it would be able to accomplish indoors, which Logan was sure would end up being their battleground. John was a hothead in all meanings of the word and if allowed to help would probably be more of a hindrance. Bobby had an impressive power, but was not in the proper place in his head to be a fighter. And though Nightcrawler had been good enough at whatever he did to get into the Oval Office in the White House… which Jean had explained to the rest of them as the reason the blue mutant was with them when they had been flying away from Boston… most of that was apparently from whatever had been done to him. He seemed much too timid to be any kind of warrior.

And Marie… while her ability was arguably the most powerful defensively; it wouldn't help her against armed, trained military men, especially once they realized not touching her was all they had to do to protect themselves. Logan knew he was going to have to train her in self-defense at the very least considering the world and times they lived in, but he couldn't teach her enough before they would have to act for it to make a difference. She was going to have to stay in the jet with the two boys, where she would be safe. He didn't like the thought of her being out of his sight for that long so close to a dangerous situation, but he knew that keeping her with him wouldn't be an option. He would be far too concerned about her to pay close enough attention to what he was doing. His fight with Sabretooth on the Statue of Liberty had taught him that much.

When they reached the jet, Jean and Storm and Nightcrawler had just arrived. It was another minute before the two teenage boys showed up, and yet another until Marie was back with them.

"I'm not all that good at judging distances," Marie reported, "but the clearing is about four miles in that direction."

Jean nodded perfunctorily to acknowledge the news and turned to Magneto, "Now how do you propose we get the Blackbird there?"

Lifting his eyebrows in an are-you-really-that-slow expression, Magneto lifted one hand, palm up, the jet lifting with it.

Jean sighed and asked, "Would it be better for the rest of us to be in the jet, or do you want us to walk?"

"Whatever you prefer," Magneto answered. Indicating Marie with his eyes, he added, "All of you but her, that is."

Logan automatically popped his claws, but Marie held a hand in a stop motion toward him.

"Are you still weak from being held captive?" she asked with something close to a mocking sneer.

Though Logan never would have expected the buckethead to admit to weakness, Magneto nodded once and said, "I assume you are willing to use _my_ ability to assist me?"

"I'm sure with me using _my _power and you yours, the two of us won't have any difficulties," she shot back.

The two glared at each other for a full minute before Magneto's mouth twitched, causing Marie to scowl even more. Logan filed away the information that Marie obviously also still had Magneto's power on top of his.

"I'm staying out of the jet to keep an eye on you," Logan told Magneto to break the tense silence no one else seemed willing to get involved in.

"And how will you do that?" Mystique asked him. "Even your eyesight can't be good enough to see through trees."

Logan frowned. "How are they going to move it if they can't see it?"

Magneto suddenly lifted off the ground, hovering a few feet from the side of the jet.

"Electro-magnetic field bubble," he said as he landed again. "As long as there is a certain amount of metal nearby, it acts as a conduit for me to tap into the earth's electro-magnetic field and use it to levitate not only metallic objects but myself as well."

Logan grunted and frowned. How was he going to protect Marie if she and Magneto were above the treetops with the jet?

"Hold still, Logan," Marie suddenly said.

She flung a hand outward in his direction and he felt the tug on his bones that had always happened just before Magneto took control of his body. Even knowing it was Marie doing it, he still felt immediately agitated at the sensation. But the malice and pain that had always accompanied Magneto's manipulation of the adamantium coating his skeleton never happened, and he found himself being levitated with much more skill than had been shown by Storm and Jean at the Statue of Liberty. As soon as his feet touched the top of the jet, she released her magnetic hold on him. He watched from his perch as the others filed back into the jet.

After a few sentences and some gestures toward the jet and the direction Marie had earlier indicated as being where the clearing was, Marie and Magneto each went to opposite ends of the Blackbird. Magneto went to the nose, and Marie stayed near the rear. She had set Logan down near the rear vertical fins of the jet, and he clamped his hands onto one of them when the jet gave a slight shudder when both she and Magneto levitated, their feet level with the top of the Blackbird. Both had their arms in front of them held out slightly to the side, and after a moment the jet gave another little shudder as it too lifted off the ground.

Though he had said he was going to keep an eye on Magneto, Logan in truth ended up watching Marie the whole time she and Magneto were moving the jet. Her full concentration was on her task. Logan couldn't help feeling odd about the sight of her skimming over the treetops with no visible means of support, but it didn't appear to bother her at all. Judging by the press of the air whipping past him, not strong enough to make him fear for his safety, he would guess they were going around twenty miles an hour. The trip to the new location took a little over ten minutes, the jet set down even more gently this time than it had been when Magneto had stopped them from crashing. Logan was sure it was Marie's doing.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Marie half-crumpled, dropping to her knees. Even from his height the equivalent of nearly two stories above her, Logan could see that she was shaking from the strain of what she had just accomplished. Judging the distance to the ground with his eyes, Logan decided to jump. He didn't want to put more stress on Marie by waiting for her to get him down, and he didn't trust Magneto to do it. He also wanted to get to Marie _now_. He had no intention of waiting until she had already pulled herself together.

The impact was jarring, but adamantium bones were nearly impossible to break and any bruising and strained muscles were healed within seconds. He was at Marie's side seconds later, pulling her up and into his arms.

"You okay?" he breathed, noting a slightly metallic tinge that had been added to her usual scent.

Marie nodded, resting against him with a grateful smile, "But I think I should practice a lot more before I try anything like that again."

"Frankly, I'm surprised you could do that much," Magneto announced as he walked toward them. "All I did was steady it, you moved it all on your own."

Logan growled at Magneto in warning, and Marie let her eyes fall shut as she collapsed a little more against him. The rest of the group joined them shortly. Mystique immediately moved to Magneto's side. Jean and Storm did a visual check of their new location before asking John and Bobby to get the camp set up.

"Rogue…" Jean started in a tone that was clearly a prelude to an order.

"No, Jean," Logan interrupted. "She needs to rest. Magneto made her do all the work."

"Fine," Jean answered flatly. To Rogue, she said, "Just make sure you keep out of everyone's way."

Logan bent slightly to physically lift Marie into his arms so he could carry her several feet away to where he had spotted what had once been a fallen tree and was now just a rather large log.

"I _can_ walk, Logan," she told him with a small smile as he moved.

"Hush," he scolded her. "You're making light of my manly heroics."

Marie laughed lightly, and Logan smiled with her. There was so much tension in the air he had felt it necessary to do what he could to lighten the mood. They reached the log, too soon for Logan's taste, and he set her down on it before sitting next to her.

"I better go help Bobby and John," he said with a sigh, following her gaze to where Magneto and Mystique were standing. "I'll keep an eye on those two so they don't bother you, but I think the boys will need my help. Bobby might have gone camping with his family at some point, but I doubt John's ever had to set up a tent before in his life. And we'll need to clear a spot for a fire first."

Marie nodded. "I'll help in a few minutes. I just need to re-center myself; I've never used that particular power for that long a span of time before."

"Take your time, darlin', no need to wear yourself out," Logan insisted.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze and moved away to join the two teenagers in unloading what they would need from the jet. There were only seven tents, which meant two sets of people would have to double up. Luckily there were more than enough sleeping bags. Because no one else would want to share with them, Bobby suggested one of the tents be set further apart from the rest to be used by Mystique and Magneto. He and John volunteered to double up in another before Logan had a chance to consider asking Marie if she would mind sleeping that close to him.

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Rogue waited until Magneto had gone into the Blackbird, presumably to talk to Jean and Storm who were inside checking over necessary repairs, before getting up to join the campground-setup effort. She'd seen Mystique glance her way when she'd been left alone outside of the jet, but Rogue wasn't ready to talk to her adoptive mother yet. She wasn't sure she ever would be. Their mental conversation, short as it had been, had confirmed that Mystique had acted of her own free will in helping Magneto escape. She didn't have the excuse of her memory being messed with this time. And Rogue really wasn't interested in whatever other rationalization she'd come up with.

Nightcrawler joined in the campground clearing effort shortly after Rogue did, and it wasn't long before they had a fire pit ready, lined with the rocks they'd weeded out of the grass they planned to set up the tents on. Logan went into the woods to collect, or cut down if need be, firewood while Nightcrawler and Rogue, and Bobby and John, paired up to set up the tents.

They were done before Logan came back, and Rogue began rooting through the large survival kit Bobby had brought from inside the jet for something to make for everyone to have a meal. It was still closer to late winter than it was to spring, and the days were shorter daylight-wise than they could have been. And they would all need sustenance and rest before they made their next move, or they wouldn't be good for any type of rescue mission.

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Mystique watched from a distance as the younger people from Xavier's, her daughter and son, and the Wolverine set up the area several feet from the jet as a campground. She didn't offer her help, knowing it wouldn't be appreciated… most vehemently, and ironically, by her own daughter. When the teenager with shorter hair and Rogue were the last actually doing something, Rogue sorting through a large plastic box and the boy checking all the tent stakes, Mystique let her mind wander, wondering what would happen when the immediate situation was resolved. She didn't think Magneto would be staying at the House since he was still a fugitive from the law, but did that mean Rogue would be willing to? Would Rogue be able to understand why she'd been compelled to help Magneto escape? Would she ever be forgiven?

"Excuse me."

Mystique looked sideways at Nightcrawler without saying anything. He had not tried to sneak up on her, she knew, but she hadn't been paying attention. Despite the fact that she had been considering revealing herself to Kurt since Rogue had started expressing more of an interest in meeting him, Mystique knew she would be putting it off even longer. She would be putting all her effort into making things okay with Rogue again. She didn't have the time or energy to deal with two of her children wanting answers and atonement.

Her son took her silent look as an invitation to continue and said, "They say you can imitate anybody… even their voice."

"Even their voice," she echoed back to him perfectly in answer.

Nightcrawler's tail twitched behind his shoulder, reminding Mystique of his father.

"Then why not stay in disguise all the time?" the second of her sons asked. "You know, look like everyone else."

"Because we shouldn't have to," Mystique responded firmly, walking away as Magneto came back out from inside the X-Men's jet.

"She refused my help," Magneto informed her when she was close enough. "Not that I expected otherwise."

Mystique nodded absently, and Magneto turned his head to look at Rogue.

"Have you spoken to her yet?"

"No. She needs time." Mystique sighed. "Besides, I don't want my personal business playing out in front of the X-Men."

"And for that, I don't blame you," Magneto responded.

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After a meager but appreciated dinner, Jean and Storm had asked to talk to Magneto and Mystique away from the camp. Logan had been invited to join them, but Rogue, Bobby and John had been ordered to clean up the food and other things left over. Nightcrawler had been asked to 'keep an eye' on them. Rogue knew why she had been left out of the conversation, and she was sure it was just protectiveness in the case of Bobby and John, but the fact that Nightcrawler wasn't being included seemed odd. Or was it just because they didn't trust him for his attack on the President? With a soft sigh, Rogue headed to where Nightcrawler was sitting. He was watching the meeting in the trees with obvious intensity.

"I'm sorry I didn't say it until now, but thank you," she said genuinely as she sat beside him on the same log Logan had set her down on earlier.

Nightcrawler dipped his head slightly, responding in German, "Bitte shchon."

Rogue smiled slightly before nodding toward the other group of mutants he had been watching when she approached. "Can you hear what they're saying?"

Nightcrawler suggestively answered, "I _could_ take a closer look."

She lightly placed a hand on his sleeve when he tensed as if to rise. "Make sure you stay at least twenty feet above them. You should be out of scent range of the Wolverine that way since he'll be close to the fire and smelling mostly that."

With a grin that was contagious despite the demonic-looking face that made it, Nightcrawler disappeared with an odd _bamf_ noise. Rogue wrinkled her nose against the sulfuric smoke left behind and got up to move back to the main campfire to help John and Bobby clean up the dinner mess. It wasn't actually close enough to the second fire for her to be able to pick up snippets of their conversation, so despite the fact that she was still spitting mad about what Mystique had done, she telepathically eavesdropped on the conversation after receiving permission.

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"Did you see the invading force's leader?" Magneto asked when everyone had found a spot. Logan grunted an affirmative, and Magneto continued, "A human past his prime with a rather rotund figure and beady eyes behind his glasses?"

"Yeah," Logan answered verbally this time.

"His name is Colonel William Stryker and he invaded your mansion for one purpose: he wanted Cerebro," Magneto announced dramatically. "Or enough of it to build one of his own."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Jean responded. "Stryker would need the Professor to operate it."

Magneto nodded. "Which, I think, is the only reason my old friend is still alive."

"Oh, my god," Storm swore gently, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Now, what are you all so afraid of?" Logan asked, confused. How could anyone make a powerful telepath like Xavier do anything he didn't want to? It was what _Xavier_ did, not what was done to him.

"While Cerebro is working," Magneto explained unnecessarily, considering that Xavier had just told Logan this information yesterday, "Charles' mind is connected to every living person on the planet. If he were forced to concentrate hard enough on a particular group, let's say mutants for example… he could kill us all!"

"Wait a minute," Storm pulled herself together enough to ask. "How would Stryker even know where to find Cerebro in the first place?"

Magneto took a deep breath and looked down, suddenly looking much older. "Because I told him. I helped Charles build it, remember? Mr. Stryker has powerful methods of persuasion. Even against a mutant as strong as Charles."

"So who is this Stryker anyway?" Jean asked after this newest information had had time to sink in.

"He's a military scientist. He spent his whole life trying to solve the _mutant problem_. If you want a more intimate perspective, why don't you ask Wolverine?" Magneto paused as everyone turned to look at Logan. "You don't remember, do you? William Stryker, the only other man I know who can manipulate adamantium. The metal on your bones; it carries his signature."

Logan frowned, "But the Professor…"

Magneto cut him off derisively. "_The Professor_ trusted you were smart enough to discover this on your own. He gives you more credit than I do."

Storm asked, "Why do you need us?"

Magneto glanced up at Mystique where she stood by his side. "Mystique has discovered plans of a base that Stryker has been operating out of for decades. We know that's where he's building the second Cerebro. But we don't know where this base is… and I believe one of you might."

"The Professor already tried…" Logan said, bristling.

Magneto cut him off once more, "Once again, you think it's all about you."

He looked pointedly upward and the rest of the group followed his gaze to see Nightcrawler hanging upside down above them.

Nightcrawler grinned sheepishly, and with a little wave greeted, "Oh… hello."

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"I didn't mean to snoop," Kurt tried to apologize.

And he hadn't meant to, not really. He just didn't understand why he and Rogue and the two boys were being kept out of the loop. They were just as involved in the current situation as the rest, if not even more so in his case. He had the right to know what had happened to him and if there was a risk of it happening again.

"Just try to relax," the one introduced to him as Jean Grey back at the church in Boston said.

She lifted her hands to put one on either side of his face, hovering just an inch or so from his skin. Kurt looked at the people standing over them a bit nervously before he was suddenly bombarded by flashes of images. A lake, a syringe with no needle, and other flashes he didn't quite understand. He gasped at the pain the flashes induced, vaguely hearing the redhead gasp as well.

"I'm sorry," Jean said perfunctorily when she pulled her hands away, stopping the intense barrage. After a pause she announced, "Stryker's at Alkali Lake."

The one known alternately as Logan or Wolverine said in a manner meant to reject the information, "That's where the Professor sent me. There's nothing left."

"Nothing left on the surface, Logan," Jean corrected. "The base is underground."

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After learning that he had been that close to learning something about his past and had missed it entirely, Logan stalked off into the woods. By the time he was done working his frustration out enough to function properly, there were several trees and a large boulder that were now and forever decorated by multiple sets of three parallel gouge marks. It hadn't been his destructive exercise that had centered him though. It had been the thought of what might have happened to Marie and the others if he hadn't been there when the mansion had been invaded, the thought of never having shared the moments they'd had in that club Darkholme. Finding out about his past was still important to him, but it wasn't anywhere near as important as keeping Marie safe and happy.

Logan took the long way back around the camp to avoid going near Magneto or Mystique, not wanting to be tempted to attack them for their past actions against Marie when they were necessary to the current mission. At least for now. The second they weren't… well, he'd find a way around Magneto's mutation. Logan came out of the woods in front of the jet, walking under it and pausing next to the open ramp to scan the campground visually.

Logan turned his head when footsteps sounded inside the air vehicle, and Jean smiled faintly as she came down the ramp leading from the inside of the jet. "Hey."

"Hey." Logan greeted in return.

Jean seemed to notice his distraction, because she asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah." He gestured toward the jet, knowing Magneto had offered to help with the repairs but Jean had refused, not that he blamed her for not trusting the bastard. "How we doing?"

Jean sighed and wiped her hands on the rag she was carrying. "Not good. It'll take four or five hours before I can get it off the ground."

"Are you sure _you're_ okay? You seem distracted."

Jean shrugged. "I'm just worried about Scott."

"I'm worried about you," Logan said. "That was some display of power up there."

And if she burned herself out through a combination of what'd she'd done in the sky and worrying constantly over things out of her control, like what was being done to the Professor and Scott, she wouldn't be any good to them at all when it came time for the real battle. He'd be damned if Marie's life was put in greater jeopardy because Jean couldn't leave her pity party of one.

Jean muttered in a defeatist tone, "Obviously it wasn't enough."

"Hey, come on," Logan placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "You did what you could. Alright?"

Jean said softly in a warning tone, "I love him."

Logan looked at the ground to hide a groan of frustration and then back up at her. Why did she always think he was flirting with her?

"Do you?" he asked absently because he knew she was waiting for a response.

Jean smiled crookedly, though the gesture didn't reach her eyes, "Girls flirt with the dangerous guy, Logan. They don't take him home. They marry the good guy."

Unbidden, the image of Piotr and his apparent closeness to Marie rose in Logan's mind. Piotr seemed the type that would be labeled a 'good guy.' But that didn't mean Marie was better off with the Russian… Piotr would never love her the way Logan did, no one could. She did, however, deserve better than how the world saw _him_. But could he give her up, even for her own good?

"I could be the good guy," he murmured, not fully realizing his last thought had been aloud until Jean spoke.

Jean smiled again, humorously this time, and said, "Logan, the good guy sticks around."

The smile fell from her face and Logan could see that she was once again thinking about her missing fiancé. Something had to be done to snap Jean out of her wallowing so she could finish the work on the jet. And though it pained him to even consider it with how new and fragile his courtship of Marie was so far, there was only one thing Logan could think of. If he made as if to kiss her, especially with Scott so close in her thoughts, Jean would pull back and get angry. And angry was better than depressed.

He made the presence of his hand on her shoulder more noticeable by firming his hold a bit. He leaned in slowly, giving her more than enough time to react. To his surprise and consternation, Jean didn't pull back like he had expected her to. In fact, she was the one who completed the movement necessary for contact, kissing him almost hungrily as she leaned into him.

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The heart-wrenching pain of personal betrayal touched Mystique's mind as she watched from across the campground as Logan and Jean kissed, and her eyes went wide; she knew for a fact it wasn't _her_ feeling that way. She spun in place, finding Rogue only several feet behind her. Her daughter's deep green eyes, taking in the same scene Mystique had been a moment before, were shining with unshed tears. Taking the few necessary steps at nearly a run, Mystique had Rogue in her arms and facing away from the embracing couple in no time flat. But she knew the damage had already been done.

Unsure whether the Wolverine could hear from this distance, Mystique tried to mentally soothe her shaking daughter's nerves as she kept an eye on the two X-Men. I know you love him, baby girl, but you shouldn't feel this way just from that little exchange. You haven't told him how you feel, have you?

The fact that Rogue was even _letting her_ offer comfort considering her own betrayal of the younger woman showed Mystique just how deeply this was affecting her daughter. Across the clearing, Logan and Jean had pulled apart, exchanging a few quiet sentences before Jean walked away, returning to work on the jet. Without glancing in their direction, which Mystique could only be grateful for, Logan headed for one of the tents that had been set up about twenty feet from the jet.

No, I haven't, Rogue finally, haltingly, answered. But Mama, he came to Darkholme the night before he went to Xavier's, and we… had a moment.

A sad sigh shook Rogue's form but her trembling ceased and Mystique let go of her, knowing now was not the time for the Wolverine to find out about their relationship. They already had too much to deal with without her having to dodge adamantium claws and Rogue having to choose between her (as far as Rogue knew) adoptive mother and the man she loved.

At least, Rogue added as she wiped her eyes and took a step back, I thought we did. We danced, and he, well, he almost kissed me. And now, two nights later he's kissing _her_.

Mystique grew angry. Rogue was truly hurting, Mystique could feel the pain she was still unwittingly projecting, and there wasn't really anything Mystique could do to make her feel better. From everything that had happened two years earlier, Mystique had thought that even if the Wolverine didn't love Rogue, he at least cared enough about her not to play with her feelings. Maybe someone needed to teach him a lesson.

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Having outwardly gotten herself under control, Rogue realized she was projecting only a moment before Mystique took a couple steps away from her. Logan and Jean were no longer in sight, and Rogue could only assume Mystique was headed toward one or the other… her stomach twisted on the thought that maybe both of them were in one of the little tents.

But no, she'd heard the conversation between them. Faintly, but Rogue'd heard it. Jean had turned Logan down. She had even demeaned him, clearly implying that she didn't think of him as a 'good guy'. It was almost enough to make Rogue madder at the redhead than at Logan, but Jean didn't know about what had happened at Darkholme, and she hadn't been the one to initiate the kiss; Logan had. With the world she had become so comfortable in falling apart at the seams, anger was an easier emotion for Rogue to deal with at the moment than betrayal and a broken heart. Besides, this was her fight, not Mystique's.

Mama! It wasn't quite the equivalent of a mental yell, but it was close. What are you doing?

Mystique stopped and turned towards her, shifting quickly into Jean and back again. Showing the Wolverine there are consequences to playing with people's hearts.

Rogue's eyes narrowed momentarily and a small smirk graced her lips. She shifted into her mother's current form, nearly forgetting to add the scars on her torso. She didn't know why her mother was using this form, but it had probably been an order from Magneto. Pushing aside the thought, Rogue held herself proudly, becoming a mirror image of the woman beside her.

In Mystique's voice, she purred, "Allow me."

Mystique knew better than to ask if Rogue was sure, shifting her own altered form into Rogue's so no one would miss the younger woman. After a moment of hesitation, Rogue reached up to her own neck and removed the chain and tag that had been her constant companions for two years. She held it out to Mystique, her hand shaking slightly. Mystique took the item silently, asking with her eyes why it was necessary.

"I have trouble sometimes keeping it as part of the shifted form," Rogue said lightly. "I don't want to risk him knowing it's me."

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Logan lay in the tent he'd claimed as his own, staring blindly at the shadows that stretched across the fabric. He still didn't understand how his attempt to snap Jean out of her distraction had turned on him so fully. He had thought Jean was a better person than to give in so easily to a random moment, especially since someone as straight-arrow as Scott thought she hung the moon, but then she did seem to think he himself felt a lot more about her than he did.

Yes, he had flirted with her when they'd first met, it's what the Wolverine did with any mildly attractive female of a certain age who seemed receptive. The fact that Jean was Scott's had added to the entertainment factor of that flirting. But it _had_ been over two years ago _and_ had been very quickly halted when Marie had been in trouble. Jean must have a more than healthy ego to think she was the one he cared about after what only added up to a handful of minutes of meaningless flirting when it was Marie he was always worrying about, running after and risking his life for.

The snap of a twig just outside his tent had him lifting his head to watch in shock as Jean came in through the opening. He was further confused by the fact that she smelled like Marie. He'd seen nothing now or two years ago that would make him think either woman would hug the other or be otherwise close enough for their scents to rub off on each other.

"Look…" Logan started, only to be stopped with the pressure of first fingers and then lips against his own.

After her weakly worded 'Please don't make me do this' following the kiss outside, Logan had certainly not been expecting her to initiate anything more. He had, in fact, been thankful for that reprieve. When she leaned forward, causing him to lay down fully, he realized something else was up. The woman on top of him didn't smell at all like Jean. And though she smelled mostly of Marie, there was a trace of Mystique scent there as well. She was stronger than he remembered from their fight on Liberty Island, because when he tried to break the contact of their mouths, she simply held him in place. Realizing he had to let her do what she wanted unless he wanted to cause a scene, Logan relented. Besides, how else would he find out what she _really_ wanted?

The strangest thing, he thought as his hands automatically reached for her waist, one hand sliding under the simple tank top to trace upwards until he reached a set of scars that lined up exactly with where his claws came out, was that the arousal he could smell coming from the shapeshifter was the same Marie scent he'd experienced at Darkholme. He must really be worn out to be able to confuse the two, and though his mind knew it wasn't Marie on top of him, his body was reacting as if it was.

Mystique, now in her own form, pulled slightly away from his mouth to stare into his eyes when he popped the claws just enough to lightly rest the tips against the spot where he had previously stabbed her.

"I can mark you again," he warned.

An indefinable expression flitted across Mystique's face and she shifted slightly so that their groins were more full aligned, inadvertently positioning her upper body so that if his claws came out all the way, they'd impale her in nearly the same place he'd stabbed Marie when she had innocently woken him from a nightmare. But there was no way for Mystique to know that, despite the look in her eyes that seemed oddly knowing.

"What do you want," he demanded sarcastically, "an apology?"

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"You know what I want," Rogue taunted in her mother's voice as she leaned back down to lick the shell of Logan's ear, concentrating on taking only his mutation through their brief touches… he wouldn't need his power in the next hour or so and would never notice it wasn't as strong as it should be.

She had to play the role she had committed to to the hilt, or he would know something was off. She could smell the arousal she couldn't seem to help feeling being this close to him, despite how mad and hurt she was, and knew Logan could too. She could smell… and _feel_… his as well. Her adoptive mother would never back down from such blatantly obvious circumstances, so neither could she.

To remind herself of why she was doing this, Rogue shifted back from her mother's scaled form to that of Jean Grey, asking, "But what do _you_ want?"

'Marie.'

She hadn't meant to pick up the thought, so sure that he would be thinking of Jean, and his automatic and strong mental mention of her name shocked her into losing control of her mother's shapeshifting ability. Rogue became herself, staring down at Logan's surprised face. His eyes had widened and his lips moved, mouthing her name. Unable to help herself, she skimmed the top of his thoughts again.

'Looks like Marie. Smells like Marie. Feels like Marie. But not Marie. _It's not!_'

Logan's hands tightened convulsively on her hips, and Rogue knew she had to draw this to a close. She'd meant to punish him for hurting her, to help herself get over that pain, but she was only succeeding in making herself more confused. With immense effort she became Jean again. Logan reacted, pushing her away, and this time she let him, falling back into the front corner of his tent and shifting into her mother again.

An angry scowl darkening his features, Logan said, "I want you to get out."

With one last look at him, she did so. A few steps away from tent, having looked around to make sure no one else was outside, Rogue pushed off the ground, herself once more. She flew into the surrounding trees, finding one with a branch sturdy enough for her to safely sit on. With a sad sigh, she leaned back against the tree's trunk, staring up at the stars.

_See, darlin'_, her inner Logan suddenly spoke up. _It's you he wants, not Jean_.

Rogue shook her head, 'He was just confused because of my scent.'

_Exactly_, Logan responded smugly.

She blushed slightly, knowing he was referring to the fact that her own arousal had helped coax Logan's into existence. She shook her head again, reminding herself of the fact that he had kissed _Jean_ no more than ten minutes ago. Jean, not her.

_He does have a point, my dear_, Erik chimed in.

'Not you, too! Look, if it was _really_ me he wanted, he wouldn't be going after Jean at all. So maybe it isn't solely _her_ he wants if his behavior at Darkholme and in the tent is anything to go by, but it isn't _me_ either. He proved that when he kissed her. He just wants _someone_.' Rogue flinched at her own vehemence, realizing that the thought of Logan wanting her just because she was there and not because it _was her_ hurt just as badly as her previous belief that he wanted Jean more. She mentally pointed at Erik, 'And as much as I appreciate you trying to help, Erik, I'd like it if you just stayed in the back of my head while I'm around Magneto.'

Though he seemed a bit disgruntled about it, Erik did as she asked. Her inner Logan made a few more attempts to convince her that the real Logan wanted only her, but he had no excuse for Logan's actions with Jean, so he eventually gave up. Emotionally and physically exhausted, Rogue flew down from the tree and walked back into the camp, heading for the tent Bobby had pointed out as hers when they had been set up, the tent closest to the one Mystique and Magneto were sharing. Bobby's expression had been sheepish, but she knew he figured it was the least confrontational choice in sleeping arrangements. Because even if Magneto had tried to kill her two years ago, she'd been living in Mystique's home for most of the time since then. No one but Rogue would be both on guard _and _used to the two other mutants.

She found Logan's dog tag and its chain resting atop the sleeping bag and threw it into the corner of the tent in a fit of anger. Seconds later Rogue had retrieved the item and put it back where it belonged around her neck. She wouldn't be able to think of it as hers for much longer considering the current circumstances, but she'd never spent a single night without it since Logan had left it with her. She didn't think she could handle yet another change tonight.

She put on a set of sweats she'd earlier taken from the jet, needing to air out the clothes and her uniform that she been stuck in since the previous day. The gloves Bobby had given her at his house were kept on her hands just in case. Pushing everything from her mind, Rogue closed her eyes and lay down to sleep.

Her fragile peace didn't last long.

**_To be continued…_**


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Notes:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined. **_Bold italics_** is a vision.

Sorry this chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, but there are two fight scenes back to back coming up that I didn't want to split up, and if I had included them both in this chapter it would have been way too long (and you would have had to wait a lot longer to read it, heh… because my copy of X2 is mysteriously MIA and I need to view it yet again to remind myself of everyone's fighting styles). And really, I think this chapter is _emotionally_ charged enough to stand on its own. Anyway, enjoy… and don't forget to review :).

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_**She was standing in the Blackbird, Bobby and John behind her. They were watching everyone else walk into danger, ordered to stay behind as if they had nothing to contribute to the rescue effort. Fierce but futile anger burned through Rogue's veins. What followed resembled nothing so much as a pieced together, out of order clip show. The Wolverine getting only a couple minutes to question the man who apparently knew the most about his mysterious past. All of the mutants of the world in profound pain from what had to be Xavier killing them with Cerebro. The kidnapped children being held in a round cell with electricity moving through the walls. Jean and Scott fighting. Water bearing down on all of them. The Wolverine killing a woman, a stranger to Rogue, who in the last seconds before death was freed from whatever had made her attack the feral. And one last scene, one that played in slow motion as if to show Rogue that it was the most important, of Magneto offering up Mystique's services as their bait to get into the underground facility when he pointed out the Wolverine wasn't the best choice to send in.**_

Released from the vision and her 'sleep', Rogue sat up and rocked herself, arms clasped around her up-drawn knees. She tried hard not to whimper, muffling any sounds of despair by pressing her mouth hard against her knee. The feel of this vision had been different than the one she'd had prior to meeting Hannah. That one had been about showing her what was coming so she could prepare for it… so she could know what had to be done. This one, though, was a warning. A dire prophecy of what could happen if she didn't take action against it. There had only been one hint about how she could even begin to do that.

Knowing she wouldn't get any rest until she had at least partially resolved herself to what was to come, Rogue extracted herself from her sleeping bag and then her tent, stopping momentarily to wipe away the blood leaking from her nose with the sleeve of the sweatshirt she was wearing. Once she was sure she'd stopped the flow enough that she wouldn't leave a blood trail wherever she moved, Rogue called up an image of the camp layout in her mind's eye. It helped that her tent was closest to Magneto and Mystique's. She would have had to deal with getting back her other senses alone if she'd had to travel much further to get to help. And she couldn't do that until she was out of hearing range of those she didn't want knowing all her secrets.

Part of her wanted to go to Logan, to tell him everything that had happened to her in the past two years and what was about to happen… her inner Logan all for the idea… but she couldn't forget what had occurred mere hours ago. If she tried to tell him now, the tale would be colored by her feelings of hurt and lost trust. Besides, it was Mystique's help she needed now. Her adoptive mother was the only one who could assist her in changing what she had seen. The only one who knew she was capable of doing what she had to.

Her journey from her tent to the one next to it was slower than it should have been. Not only because she couldn't see her way and had to feel it instead, but also because she had to be quiet enough in her movements not to draw attention to herself. After what seemed like an intractable amount of time, the sweep of her right hand as she moved in a careful crouch found the corner of the tent that was her destination. Rogue reached up to lightly scratch at the material of the tent 'door' only to realize as it gave under the slight pressure that it hadn't been zipped shut.

"What are you doing here?" Magneto's voice asked coldly.

"I need to speak to Mystique," Rogue answered through gritted teeth.

She refused to show weakness in front of him, keeping her eyelids at half-mast so he wouldn't see that her eyes were temporarily clouded over. The fear she still couldn't help but feel in his presence didn't help matters, but at least it was tempered by righteous fury, allowing her to hide it better. The rustling of fabric that Rogue had to assume was Mystique's sleeping bag followed her statement, and a gentle hand on her shoulder pushed her back from the tent entrance. Rogue let Mystique guide her away from the tent with subtle touches.

When they were far enough away, Mystique pulled lightly on the hair at the base of Rogue's skull in order to lift Rogue's chin without touching skin so Rogue's eyes were visible. Rogue easily heard the shocked breath Mystique sucked in. Mystique knew that Rogue being blind the way Irene had been most of her life meant that her daughter had been subjected to a vision via Destiny's usually-suppressed power. She'd heard all about it in the aftermath of the situation with Hannah and the lab Rogue's now-deceased adopted daughter had been kept at.

"Does something go wrong?" Mystique finally asked quietly.

Rogue made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, wiping surreptitiously at her nose to make sure it hadn't started bleeding again. It hadn't, and she allowed herself a small moment of comfort in the knowledge that Irene's power hadn't taken as a great a toll this time.

"Several things," she answered, realizing as she spoke that somehow more knowledge than just what she'd seen had been transferred to her from the vision. "The first of which is the fact that Jean will convince the others to make me stay on the jet if I mention helping. Bobby and John will be forced to stay as well, and that's probably for the best, but I refuse to break my promise. I told Conchita I would get Decipher out for her. Mama, I'm not letting _Jean Grey_ make me break my word."

"How do you want to handle it?" Mystique asked in a tone that told Rogue she would do what she could to help.

"When they try to decide on how to get into the base, they're going to realize it will be next to impossible because the only way in is a spillway Stryker can flood at a moment's notice. Wolverine will volunteer to be the one to go in since Stryker won't try to kill him. Magneto will, in his _unique_ way, point out that Wolverine is not qualified to operate the spillway door and the computer system for the rest of them to get in. He'll suggest you go in _as_ the Wolverine. But, thanks to the vision and unbeknownst to anyone but you and me, it'll really be _me_ he's sending."

"But, Marie…"

"I need to do this."

"I understand that, baby girl," Mystique responded, a slightly desperate edge to her voice, "but I don't want you getting hurt."

"Mama, I am bulletproof and you've seen the results of my training… are you saying that you don't trust that I'm capable of doing this?"

"Of course I know you _can_ do it," Mystique said. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to worry, that I don't want you to _have_ to do it."

Rogue refused to acknowledge motherly worrying from the woman who had so short a time ago released from captivity the man who'd killed her. But that didn't mean she wouldn't accept the aid she needed. "So you'll help me?"

"Yes. Is there anything you need me to do besides switching places with you when they're making their little plans?"

Rogue nodded. "I'll need you to let me take the information from you about the layout of the structure. I know you must have downloaded Stryker's files to find out where Magneto was being held. I assume you took the information on the base layout as well."

Before she could answer, the sound of movement from one of the tents other than her own had Mystique gripping Rogue's elbow and guiding her carefully into the woods. Despite Mystique's care in leading the younger woman, Rogue stumbled over a root, only just catching herself. If she had been able to use her other abilities, her blindness wouldn't have been that much of a problem, but one of the side effects of Destiny's gift manifesting itself was the temporary loss of all but the power of Rogue's skin.

Cursing softly under her breath more from being startled than anything else, Rogue stopped in place and turned to Mystique. "I'm going to need you to put your hand over my mouth."

Automatically taking the glove Rogue stripped off her own hand to pass to her, Mystique asked, "Why?"

"Because shutting down Mama Irene's power is immensely painful and it takes several seconds for my healing factor to kick back in. I muffled my scream at the House, but smothering the sound as much as possible is absolutely necessary now because certain of our companions do have superior hearing," Rogue explained matter-of-factly.

Rogue turned her back to Mystique and sank gingerly to her knees on the forest floor. Mystique crouched behind her, clamping her now-covered hand over Rogue's mouth, careful not to block her nostrils and cut off her air supply. Rogue breathed out through her nose in a long exhale, concentrating on banishing Irene back to the dark corner of her mind. She swayed with the force of the pain that ripped through her head, but didn't go anywhere thanks to Mystique bracing her. Because of the pain, she hadn't been aware of whether she screamed or not, but Mystique removing her hand from over Rogue's mouth and gently stroking her covered shoulder assured her that she had.

Blinking a couple times until her vision adjusted to the double darkness of the woods at night, Rogue eased away from Mystique and regained her footing without help. After giving herself long moments to prepare herself to receive Mystique's memories, Rogue held out her still-bare hand. Without hesitation Mystique placed her own bared hand into it.

It was only a second later, when Mystique's eyes widened and her skin paled, that Rogue had any idea that something was wrong. She pulled her hand away quickly, the connection having only been open for a second.

"I didn't hurt…" Rogue's question trailed off as the memories she had just gained made themselves known.

She hadn't been hurting Mystique… Mystique had only fully realized an instant after they touched that Rogue would be taking her memories, including ones that Mystique didn't want her to have. And of course thinking of those particular memories had made them foremost in her mind. And now in Rogue's. Rogue could actually feel all the blood drain from her face as she learned the truth. The woman watching her with the most anxious expression she had ever seen had not only adopted Rogue, but had _given birth_ to her.

And abandoned her.

But it was the next little tidbit, the information of just who her _father_ might be that made Rogue's blood run cold.

"No," she tried to say, shaking her head as she backed away from Mystique.

But no sound came out thanks to the fact that she was having difficulty breathing. When Mystique reached for her, Rogue automatically moved out of the way, slamming into a slender tree. The relatively young plant couldn't stand up to the force Rogue had unwittingly put into her motion, and with an ominous creak the trunk splintered. Startled, and in no condition to think about what she was doing, Rogue shot out one hand in a 'stop' motion. The tree came to a halt in midair before it could crash into the ground.

Realizing even through the shock of what she'd just done that her control was nearly nonexistent, Rogue moved quickly over to the fallen, hovering tree, bracing her arms beneath it before the momentary telekinetic ability gave way. When Jean Grey's ability slipped back into whatever secret place in her mind it had been hiding in, Rogue set the tree down on the ground as gently as possible, not wanting the noise that would have resulted from the sapling crashing to wake any of the others. Anger rushed through her at the thought that _everyone_ who supposedly helped her apparently lied to her, and she pulled back one fist in order to vent some of her tumultuous feelings through physical activity. But the night's surprises weren't done with her.

Bones claws erupted from the skin between her knuckles, surprising a pained shriek from her throat. She stared in bewilderment at the additional appendages, realizing after long seconds that she had unlocked another secret of Logan's past. He'd had claws of his own before the adamantium had been grafted to his skeleton. And though hers weren't indestructibly adamantium coated, they did look pretty lethal regardless. No matter how much their abrupt appearance had been painful and unexpected, they had given her something to focus on when she had desperately needed it. She was able to push down all the things she wasn't yet ready to deal with, and she turned eyes burning with unshed tears back to Mystique's waiting form.

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Mystique's heart was pounding fearfully. She had always known that when Rogue found out their true relationship there would be recriminations and demands for an explanation, but she had never meant for Rogue to find out the way she had. She could understand the stress that Rogue was already under given their circumstances and everything that had happened in the past forty-eight hours; Rogue wasn't currently equipped to handle information that she would understandably see as another betrayal. But after everything they'd been through, Mystique knew she could not give up on having a relationship with her only daughter. She _wouldn't_.

And it seemed from that latest display that she wasn't the only one that had lied to Rogue. Mystique knew that when Rogue had 'cleaned house' she'd gotten rid of all traces of Jean Grey, and yet in a moment of intense stress and uncertainty, telekinesis had asserted itself out of nowhere. Emma Frost was going to have to answer for her part in it when the current crisis was over.

"Marie," she coaxed gently, once more reaching out a hand to her daughter, "I never meant…"

"For me to find out?" Rogue asked, a slightly hysterical edge to her voice as she again dodged Mystique's attempt at providing physical comfort.

"Not that way," Mystique replied firmly. "We need to talk about this."

Rogue shook her head, her hair whipping wildly around her face, her emotionally-dark eyes large in the pale countenance. "I'm not dealing with this right now. I can't. We have to focus on what's happening now."

Knowing pushing Rogue right now might not be the best thing for her mentally considering what else she had learned because of her panic after their touch… because if the power was still there, there was a good chance the voices were still hiding somewhere as well just waiting for their chance… Mystique was forced to concede the point and allow Rogue to steer the conversation back to the plan on how to switch places at the appropriate time the next day. Their interchange was stilted, and once the plan was outlined Rogue dismissed Mystique and wandered deeper into the woods. With a heavy heart, Mystique headed back to the tent she was sharing with Magneto. He was still awake and waiting for her, but she was unable, and unwilling, to tell him what had happened. She didn't notice the other set of eyes watching her return.

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Logan narrowed his eyes as Mystique ducked back into her tent, taking no obvious notice of his attention. He'd been woken about half an hour before by movement in the camp. Thinking that it was simply someone going into the woods to relieve themselves since the sound was away from the camp instead of into it, he had almost managed to drift back to sleep when a pained shriek that sounded suspiciously like Marie just barely reached his sensitive ears.

He had immediately gotten up and unzipped his tent, peering out into the night. But he had stopped himself from leaving the small temporary structure when he didn't hear any further sounds of a struggle. Marie was a screamer when there was trouble; she'd proven that at the bar in Laughlin City, in his room after he'd stabbed her and she'd absorbed him, and on the Statue of Liberty. A frown had darkened his face when he remembered that Mystique could not only take someone's shape but perfectly mimic his or her voice as well. His suspicion that the scream had been an attempt to get him alone and vulnerable again was confirmed when Mystique walked out of the woods a little while later looking deflated.

Satisfied that what he'd heard had simply been another attempt by the shapeshifter to mess with him, Logan zipped the flap of his tent closed and settled back on top of his sleeping bag. Though he was understandably restless about what would be going down tomorrow, Logan forced himself to get back to sleep, knowing he would need every once of energy he could call on for the battle to come.

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Rogue had finally stopped walking deeper into the woods, standing still to take stock, when Jean Grey's insistent presence tried to make itself known in her head. She sighed deeply. Though Jean wouldn't have been able to see into her head in the time Irene's ability had been causing her to be cut off from her other powers because of her chaotic emotions at the time, her mental walls would have been down enough that any telepathically sensitive person would have known something was off. Steeling herself for what she was sure would turn into an argument, Rogue opened her mind enough to allow Jean to communicate with her psychically.

What were you and Mystique doing in the woods? I know she came back without you and you were both very careful to be quiet when you left.

I had a nightmare. It wasn't technically a lie since she had been asleep when the vision had hit and it would therefore be undetectable as a falsehood by the other telepath. Rogue continued, I automatically went to her after, but it's hard for someone to comfort you when you won't allow them close enough to do so.

I don't know why you're avoiding Mystique… 

Rogue snorted softly. I have one word for you, Jean: Magneto.

You expect me to believe that you didn't know she was going to let him out? Jean responded derisively.

I don't care what you believe, Rogue answered flatly. Yes, she used to occasionally talk about getting him out, but it was always a sometime-in-the-future thing. I certainly didn't expect her not to tell me before she did it, to give me no warning like she did.

I see. So why did you come to the school before you knew he had escaped? Was it just a huge coincidence?

No, Rogue admitted for the sake of being honest enough that Jean wouldn't be wondering what she was hiding the entire time they were forced to keep company. She didn't tell me about Magneto, but Mystique _did_ let me know what she'd discovered about Stryker. I came to warn Xavier, only I didn't know he was leaving the school, and by the time I found out it was too late.

And that's why you were still at the school when Stryker invaded, Jean concluded. You were staying until someone you could inform came back.

Rogue answered in the affirmative and waited for whatever else Jean was going to demand. She didn't have to wait long.

You haven't told Logan anything about what happened in the last two years, have you? Jean asked.

No. I didn't get a chance before all of this started, and once it did, it was not the right time.

Alright, Jean responded. Continue to prove you can work with us without any problems and I'll let you wait until you feel the time is right to admit to Logan what's happened.

Fine, Rogue fraudulently agreed, knowing Jean wouldn't see what she and Mystique had planned as 'working with us without problems'… by which Jean really meant 'stay out of my way and obey my every word'.

She slammed her mental walls back into place, letting Jean think she was being petulant. Taking a cleansing breath, Rogue corrected her stance and began a series of katas she often used to limber up before a DR session. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with everything she had learned swirling through her head. Rogue used the time before dawn to prepare herself mentally and physically for what was to come in the morning. She had no idea how to prepare for what her life would become after they'd completed their mission and went back to their everyday existences. _Everything_ she had counted on had changed in such a short space of time.

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Storm woke, as she usually did, just before the sun. Sitting up, she stretched to get the kinks out of her back and neck that had resulted from a night spent in a sleeping bag on the ground with no pillow. Though her younger life had been filled with much worse circumstances, she had grown accustomed to the opulence of Xavier's mansion in the past decade or so. Maybe she should go camping more often to keep herself grounded. She could talk to Xavier about a program for the students that stayed at the school during the summer… if this all ended well. With a soft but deeply felt sigh, Storm changed back into her uniform from the sweats she'd worn during the night to be more comfortable.

Rolling her sleeping bag so that the younger members of the current group wouldn't be stuck with _all_ of the menial chores, Storm exited her tent. Glancing around the quiet campground, she found Rogue sitting beside the duffle bag-like object that was the younger woman's folded up tent. As she walked closer, she could see that Rogue's sleeping bag had also been bundled up tightly, ready to reload on the jet.

Rogue was facing the slowly rising sun, but she acknowledged Storm's presence with a softly uttered, "Morning."

With a slight frown, Storm asked, "Did you sleep at all?"

"I may have gotten an hour," Rogue answered, never taking her gaze from the horizon.

From the drawn look on the younger woman's face and the air of sadness hanging around her that was almost palpable, Storm had the feeling that Rogue was not truly seeing what she was looking at. Storm was ashamed to admit that she had not been in the least concerned about Rogue yesterday, despite how difficult seeing Magneto again must be for her. It was obvious, now that she bothered to look, that these events were putting an intense strain on the young mutant woman. But as she opened her mouth to ask if Rogue was okay, the young woman stood and stretched briefly, gesturing with one hand to indicate the rest of the camp.

"We should get everyone up," Rogue observed. "The sooner we leave, the better."

Storm barely had time to nod in answer before Rogue was moving among the tents, calling wake-up greetings to the inhabitants but noticeably leaving Jean and, oddly, Logan for Storm to rouse. With help from Bobby and John, Rogue passed out bottles of water and energy bars in lieu of breakfast. As the others ate and tended to morning necessities, Rogue packed up the sleeping bags and folded tents and made sure the two campfires had been completely extinguished, working quickly and silently. Storm couldn't help wondering what the younger woman was saving her true energy for, and why she was so eager to get to a fight that if Jean had anything to say about she probably wouldn't be a part of.

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After one last glance around the campsite to make sure nothing had been left behind, Rogue climbed onto the Blackbird. Everyone else was already aboard, and as she stepped inside, she saw John and Bobby staring at a uniform, probably an extra of Scott's, that was in a plexiglass pullout panel. Logan was stepping out of a small changing room that could have passed for a small linen closet, pulling up the zipper on the front of the uniform he'd evidently just finished donning.

"Why don't we get uniforms?" John suddenly asked.

Bobby chimed in as well, "Yeah, where's ours?"

Logan snorted and pushed the case back into it's slot in the wall, the two boys following the motion with their eyes.

"They're on order," he quipped. "Should arrive in a few years."

John rolled his eyes and moved to sit down in the very back of the jet where Mystique and Magneto were sitting silently. Magneto was laughing as Rogue glanced at him, and when their gazes met, his eyes narrowed in thought.

"We love what you've done with your hair," he said with perfect calm.

His more sinister intention of reminding her of where she'd gotten the white streaks was clear in the calculating smile he shot her way. Rogue pulled off one glove and stepped toward him, hesitating slightly at her mother's strained, sheepish smile. Magneto was a necessary evil in the coming hours, and they both knew it. She didn't even notice that Bobby had tried to act as a buffer until he spoke directly behind her, his hands resting hesitantly on her covered shoulders.

"Hey, come on, let's go."

Rogue allowed Bobby to move her forward in the jet, the two of them passing Logan, who was making sure everything was secure in the cargo area of the jet. Bobby took a seat in the same place he had the day before, and Rogue stood beside the one she had inhabited. She didn't sit down, waiting patiently instead for Logan to pass her on the way to his chair behind Storm.

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Marie was waiting for Logan as he moved forward in the jet. He had not been able to talk to her yet this morning, everyone busy with the chores necessary to break camp and prepare for the coming assault on Stryker's base. But he had kept an eye on her, noticing that she had done more than her share of the work but had been even quieter and more withdrawn than the others. Logan was forced to assume it had to do with the present company. And though he wished he could ease her tension, he knew there wasn't anything that could be done until all of this was over.

"Here, this is yours," Marie said as he drew even with her.

She held out her hand, which was clenched in a fist. Logan stopped in the aisle and opened his own hand beneath hers, only partially surprised when his dog tag fell into his open palm. What else of his did she have, after all? But he didn't understand _why_ she was giving it back to him.

"M… Rogue…" he tried.

She smiled calmly but there was no warmth in her eyes. "You never know, it might help you find out something about your past while you're in there."

Knowing there wasn't really any way to argue with her logic, and acknowledging to himself that he could very easily give it back to her after this was over, Logan nodded. He didn't understand the lack of light in her eyes, but she had been acting differently since Magneto and Mystique had appeared. With what she had been through at their hands two years ago, he supposed it was understandable that she wasn't comfortable with the current situation. He dropped the chain over his head, catching her scent faintly on the metal as it passed his nose, and moved further forward in the jet to take a seat.

Logan's stomach sank as he buckled himself in, remembering the trouble Marie'd had the day before. He glanced back to where she was sitting, watching carefully as she pulled off one glove, holding it in her mouth, to clasp her own buckle with a resounding _click_ before slipping her glove back on. With a soft sigh, Marie turned to stare unseeing out of the nearest window, and Logan faced forward in his own seat, satisfied that she was as safe as she could be on the jet.

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Mystique resisted the urge to rub the bridge of her nose in annoyance. They had been flying for about half an hour, and the teenager that had stayed in the back of the jet with she and Magneto had not stopped flicking his lighter the whole time. If he didn't stop soon she might snap and take the thing from him and shove it…

"So they say you're the bad guy," the boy suddenly said to Magneto.

"Is that what they say?" Magneto asked in an amused tone.

Mystique smirked to herself. Magneto had done things that were horrible, some of which she herself was not willing to let him try again, but he believed in his cause. And when you're fighting for the very survival of your race, ethics takes a back seat to effectiveness. But Magneto didn't consider himself a bad guy, but rather the protector and leading advocate of _homo superior_.

"That's a dorky looking helmet," the teen continued fearlessly. "What's it for?"

"This _dorky looking helmet_ is the only thing that's gonna protect me from the _real_ bad guys," Magneto answered, floating the boy's lit lighter to himself. "What's your name?"

"John."

Magneto pressed, "What's your _real name_, John?"

Mystique was slightly surprised to realize Magneto was recruiting the boy. Magneto usually had no time for children, preferring followers who were old enough to know what they were doing. It helped when they had experience fighting… and absolutely no love for humanity. Mystique wondered what it was he saw in the boy, besides his obvious chafing at the restrictions the X-Men put on him, that made Magneto feel he was worth the effort.

She watched as John pulled the flame from the lighter toward him, forming a fireball in his palm.

"Pyro," he answered.

"Quite a talent you've got there, Pyro," Magneto flattered.

Pyro shrugged slightly, snuffing the fire in his palm. "I can only manipulate the fire. I can't create it."

"You are a god among insects," Magneto said firmly, obviously a bit put off by the boy's false humility. "Never let anyone tell you different."

Magneto handed the lighter back to John the old fashioned way and sat back, done with his recruitment spiel for now. Mystique settled herself more comfortably beside him, glad when Pyro took to staring thoughtfully at his lighter instead of flicking it.

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The Blackbird made one pass over Alkali, all stealth technology activated, before landing in a clearing a ways from the ruins they now knew were a cover for what lay beneath the snowy surface. When they had set down, Bobby and Marie moved to the back, joining John and Mystique out of the way as Magneto came forward to discuss strategy. Bobby and John stayed in the 'doorway' leading to the back of the jet, blocking Logan's view of Mystique and Marie. He tried not to worry, knowing that if Marie were in any danger he would hear or smell it in plenty of time to take action. Storm took scans of the area and input them into a holographic image generator, explaining to the rest of them what she had found.

"All right," Storm began as she activated the first three dimensional image. "This is a topographic map of the dam. This is the spillway. You see these density changes in the terrain? They're tire tracks."

"That's the entrance," Logan stated rather than asked.

"Mm-hmm," Storm murmured an affirmative. The display changed slightly and she pointed out the new lines and what they meant. "And this shows the depth of the ice that's covering the ground. Now _this_ is recent water activity."

"If we go in there, Stryker could flood the spillway," Jean observed.

For his part, Logan was just glad to finally know why he hadn't seen any signs of life when he'd been up here alone. The spillway must have been flooded, completely covering the only signs and smells that would have shown recent human activity. He might have super senses, but even he couldn't see or smell through a river of water. Stryker had to have a system in place that hid his base when anyone was in range of it on foot or by ground vehicle.

"Can you teleport inside and find a way to let the rest of us in?" Storm asked Nightcrawler.

The dark blue mutant shook his head, "No. I have to be able to see where I'm going, otherwise I could wind up inside a wall."

"I'll go," Logan volunteered. "I have a hunch Stryker will want me alive."

"Wolverine, whoever goes into the dam needs to be able to operate the spillway mechanism." Magneto walked through the holographic display as he spoke, disrupting the image. "What do you intend to do? Scratch it with your claws?"

Logan narrowed his eyes at the obvious amusement in Magneto's tone. "I'll take my chances."

"But _I _won't." Magneto responded firmly, everyone else's gazes following his when he turned his head to look at Mystique who had stepped forward between the two teenage boys, a slight smirk on her face.

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Rogue walked purposefully into the spillway tunnel, not having to fake the gruff frown on her borrowed face. Magneto had been looking at her oddly just before she'd left, and she had the suspicion that he'd known she wasn't Mystique as soon as he'd seen her standing between Bobby and John in the back of the Blackbird. Why he'd let her carry on with the charade, she had no idea. Shaking herself mentally, Rogue concentrated on walking confidently in the self assured animal-like prowl that was the Wolverine's stride. She continued down the tunnel, tensing only slightly the further in she got, until she was only about ten feet from the door that resembled a dead end.

"Stryker!" Rogue yelled in Logan's voice, listening to the echo that followed for a few seconds before yelling again. "Stryker!"

With a distinct noise of concrete sliding against itself, two small side doors in the tunnel opened and armed men piled out, weapons all pointed at her, safeties off. Although she tensed slightly at being surrounded, Rogue was careful not to make any sudden or hostile movements. It was still much too early to give away who she really was, both to the men in the tunnel and to the other people watching by surveillance. And even if Logan might have taken out a few of them just to prove a point, the second she got shot at it would be obvious from the fact that a healing factor wasn't even necessary that she wasn't him. She wondered briefly if Stryker would even bother calling his men back inside before flooding the spillway.

One of the men closest to her said, "Move and you're dead."

It took effort not to laugh or smile, but she stood still as four men came forward with an odd restraint that crossed 'his' arms in front of her chest. From her experience with the metal, she knew it was adamantium, which meant even Logan wouldn't have been able to break out of the contraption. But she wasn't worried. She had more tricks up her proverbial sleeve than Stryker and his men could possibly be prepared for. She waited, flanked by several men on either side and in front of and behind her, as the expansive door in front of them slowly opened. Rogue walked forward when prodded to do so by the muzzle of a rifle, visually scanning the interior of the first room of the facility.

She was halfway down the ramp into the main floor of the room when Stryker came out to meet 'him'. Rogue's gaze immediately locked onto the human in charge. His beady eyes narrowed behind his glasses, and Rogue knew he knew something was up.

"The only thing I know better than anyone is my own work," Stryker turned and said to the dark-haired, dark-eyed man beside him… Lieutenant Lyman, the limited knowledge of the man whose memories she'd absorbed at the mansion supplied the name of Stryker's Second-In-Command. "Seal the room. Shoot it."

"Seal the room," Lyman commanded loud enough for the human troops to hear as Stryker quickly turned to exit the room. He waved the soldiers surrounding her back as he pulled his own weapon. "Step away."

Rogue changed into Mystique instantly, using her mother's more malleable form to slip her hands free of the restraints. She held onto it temporarily. Indestructible metal in _any_ form was a powerful weapon. A wicked grin curved lips not her own as Rogue slipped into battle mode.

**To be continued…**


	23. Chapter 23

**Reading Key:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Notes**: _I am __**very**__ sorry for the delay in updating._ Awhile back someone plagiarized part of one of my other stories (Child of the Sun) and it made me understandably upset, especially when all FFN did in response was take that chapter down and not kick the person out, which I think they should have since they do so to people who post rating inappropriate items (or at least they used to). Isn't stealing someone else's work worse?

Anyway, that experience led to me being a bit anxious about posting things online. I realize my work isn't bestseller material or anything like that, but it is _my_ work. When someone steals something from you, especially something so personal, and then claims that _they_ created it, it hurts. So when family, health and work issues cropped up one after the other, I let it force my writing to the back burner without much of a fuss.

I'm trying to pull out of that feeling, and I hope you all will bear with me while I do so. I appreciate it more than I can say.

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More agile than normal thanks to Mystique's naturally limber form, Rogue took out her immediate set of four guards with a backwards flip that let her kick two of them away. The third one on her left was bludgeoned with the heavy restraints she'd held onto. The last one on her right she knocked down with a punch backed by the full force of her momentum. She jumped into the group of men on the floor below her, grabbing one of them to use as a shield when the others opened fire.

When there was a pause in the weapons fire, she dropped the dying man and swung into action again. She was too close to their comrades for the soldiers to continue firing quite as much. It didn't stop all of them, but it was enough for her to feel with Erik's help when the bullets were approaching. Her movements were reminiscent of some choreographed dance as she avoided being shot while still fighting. It was exhilarating.

She had to stop herself from pulling her punches. Her first instinct was to go easier on the men because this was reality, not the DR. The damage she did couldn't be undone by pressing a reset button. But then her practical side pointed out that the soldiers certainly wouldn't thank her for it. The bullets they were shooting at her should prove that they weren't holding back in the least.

At the mansion she had worried about going too far when the troops had Presidential permission to be there. But _this_ wasn't what the President had approved. The planned genocide of every living mutant was all Stryker's doing. Rogue wondered, as she kicked a man on the side of his head while executing a cartwheel, how many of Stryker's men knew that, knew the _full_ plan.

A loud mechanical sound drew her attention. Rogue noted from the corner of her eye that the door was closing that separated the room she was in from the hallway leading to the control room. Part of her wanted to stay and finish the fight she was currently in… she dodged the jab of a rifle barrel and used her hold on the weapon and the man's own forward momentum to yank him off balance and smack him in the back of the head with her elbow… but she knew time was of the essence. Stryker was sure to step up his plan now that he knew he'd been found. Rogue needed to do her part so the others could get into the base and do their parts.

Rogue didn't want to waste more time than she already had by fighting the men still capable of doing so. And if she actually reopened the door with her control over metal, they would inevitably follow her. She couldn't let that happen. Rogue dove for the rapidly narrowing opening that led to the main corridor. She slid through the closing door backwards with her middle finger raised in a salute to the men she hadn't had the time to put out of commission. As she sprang to her feet, she had to admit that the scales of her mother's current form acted as a convenient buffer against scrapes and bruises to her otherwise 'naked' skin. She was glad in some ways that she'd had to wear it for the fight.

Fairly certain that there would be armed men guarding her destination of the control room, Rogue shifted directly from her mother's form into that of William Stryker. She rounded the turn in the corridor and headed for the control room doorway. When she got there, she motioned the single guard stationed a few feet from it to follow her inside.

"We have a metamorph loose," she communicated in urgent tones with Stryker's voice. "Could be anybody."

"Anybody?" the man sitting at the panel in the control room echoed. "What…"

She grabbed the gun the guard was holding, slamming it up quickly and firmly into the underside of his jaw. His head snapped back hard enough to knock him out, effectively putting a stop to any assistance he might have given to the other man in the room. Rogue swung the weapon around with alacrity, slamming it into the head of the guy sitting at the controls. Grabbing both unconscious forms, she tossed them haphazardly out into the corridor. They wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, but there was no need to give herself or the X-Men any unnecessary obstacles.

Shifting into Mystique again, Rogue pressed the large, labeled button to seal the control room. She watched the open space beneath the lowering bulkhead as Stryker came toward the room. The madman's face was red from rage and the effort he'd expended failing to get here before her. Rogue smirked and waggled the tips of her fingers in a cheeky wave as Stryker was hidden from her view. Swiftly moving to sit in the chair so recently and violently vacated, she tapped the earbud that had stayed firmly in place throughout the fight.

In her mother's voice, she reported, "I'm in."

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Thanks to Mystique hacking into the security system's video signal soon after they had landed, the X-Men and Magneto had been able to watch the whole thing on a screen in the Blackbird. They had remained silent as she worked her way through the men quickly, noting which ones would still be a problem when they went in and which ones were most likely down for the count. When Mystique reported in with her success, they were already prepared to leave the jet and head in to the fray themselves.

"She's good," Logan couldn't help but observe aloud.

"You have no idea," Marie said as she moved to stand between he and Magneto.

In any other circumstances, Logan would have been shocked that she had not only stood up verbally for Mystique but also purposefully moved closer to the metal manipulator. Only it wasn't Marie's voice that said it. And a few seconds later, it wasn't Marie's form either. Logan's blood ran cold when he realized what Mystique still being on the jet meant.

"What did you do to her?" he snarled.

He forcefully grasped Mystique's arm, which was encased in Marie's jacket. She'd kept a distance between them. That and the clothes, Marie's by the scent and look of them, had helped mask the fact that she wasn't Marie.

"Nothing," Mystique said calmly, prying her arm out of his shock-weakened grip. "I simply helped her when she asked me to. She knew _that one_," she indicated a frowning Jean with her eyes and a tilt of her head, "wouldn't allow her to help. She had no intention of letting anyone stop her. She made a promise to someone who depended on her, and she will not rest until the boy she swore to rescue is free by _her_ hand."

Jean opened her mouth, anger flashing in her eyes, but Magneto raised a silencing hand.

"We don't have time for this," he said. "Rogue has done what we needed her to. Now it is our turn to act. Recriminations can wait until _all of us_ have been saved, if you people are petty enough to feel they are necessary."

Mystique nodded her agreement and moved away. She slipped out of Marie's clothes… a jacket, shirt and pants… and folding them neatly on one of the seats. Logan was left to wonder what Marie was wearing. It was a moment later that Logan fully realized for the first time that this fight truly wasn't just about the faceless masses. If Stryker were allowed to use Xavier and Cerebro to kill all mutants, even he, with all of his regenerative ability, might not come back from that… and Marie would die as well with no chance of a last minute save if he was taken out.

His blood ran cold at the thought and it took a moment for his heart to start beating again, now pounding just a bit faster than it normally did. This was Marie's fight, and his, as much as it was that of the X-Men or Magneto and Mystique.

Though he would have rather had her come to him for help in being included, he could understand why Marie had done what she did. Especially if Jean's… and the other adults'… dismissal of her continued to be what it was two years ago. To them she had been someone to be bundled up to protect others and then ignored. He was also forced to remember the fact that just last night he had been determined to keep her safe and out of the way in the jet. Perhaps she had been right not to come to him.

But even touching Mystique to gain her shape-shifting abilities… and it couldn't have been for long since Mystique had not been laid out for any noticeable amount of time… did not explain the skill Marie had shown during her infiltration of Stryker's base. She had to have been training hard, and for some time, to get to that level of ability.

He had noticed, of course, that her body was in top physical condition when he'd held her… at Darkholme and at the gas station and after the Blackbird had almost crashed… as well as looking at her many times in between. But he'd thought she just took much better care of herself than many young people did because of the things she had been through. That and the fact that she had reason to value life more than the average person, having actually lost hers briefly. Just how young did Xavier start recruiting, or at the least _training_, his students as future X-Men? Whatever the case, if they got through this, there would be plenty of time later to discuss things.

_When_ they got through this, he corrected himself.

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Getting the mental signal from Mystique that the need for subterfuge had passed, Rogue slipped back into her own form. She breathed a sigh of relief at finally being able to let go of her mother's ability. It took a lot of concentration to use, and she had too many other things going on. She wouldn't have been able to hold it for much longer. Rogue opened the spillway doors to let in the team. Making sure the control room she currently occupied was now the only way to shut the door or flood the spillway, she moved on to her next task.

Rogue kept one eye on the screens in front of her, typing commands into the keyboard beneath her fingers in an effort to find all the information they would need to complete their rescue mission and get out as unscathed as possible. A power usage scale that was odd but not large enough to be the second Cerebro caught her eye. She typed in a directive to put the corresponding room on one of the screens. The new image showed the kidnapped children, six in total. Rogue took a moment out of her search to lift one hand and touch Decipher's image on the screen, reassuring herself that he seemed okay considering the circumstances.

A few of the children were pacing or rocking in place or curled up crying, but Decipher simply sat with his arms around himself, conserving energy. Jubilee, one of the two who had been pacing, reached toward the wall. Rogue took note of the electricity running in a shield over the wall that snapped at the teen, confirming what she'd seen in her vision last night.

Jubilee frowned and tried sending her sparks at it. Apparently her action had no affect. The young woman pulled the blanket draped around her shoulders tighter about her and returned to her pacing.

Reaching out as gently as possible with her mind, not wanting to startle him, Rogue psychically told her young friend, Decipher, it's Rogue. I'm here with the X-Men; we're going to get you and the others out. The soldiers already know we're here, so you can go ahead and tell your schoolmates.

Have you found Conchita? he immediately projected back to her. His image on the screen had sat up straighter when she first contacted him. I tried to protect her, but there were so many of them. I don't know how many cells there are…

I was able to stop them from taking her, Rogue assured him before he could go any further. She's safe with Piotr and the rest of the students. Those with you in the cell were the only ones captured.

Thank you. Decipher's relief and gratitude were deep, profound.

They had more of a centering effect on Rogue's own emotions than she would have thought possible.

I have to sever the connection now, Rogue told him. But I'll see you soon.

After receiving acknowledgment from the teen, Rogue returned to her typing. She took care to shut down all the excess security systems she could as she went. The electrified wall in the children's circular cell was only one of them.

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"We're at the spillway door."

Storm was the one who reported the current step of their invasion to Marie through the earbud communicator. All of the devices were on the same channel, so Logan, along with everyone else, could hear Marie's voice telling them to be prepared to fight just under two dozen armed men.

The weather witch responded with a soft, "Thank you for the warning."

A moment later the door in front of them let out a groan as it started to open. Storm tipped her head back slightly. Her eyes clouded over even as a thick white fog developed in the tunnel they were currently inhabiting. Logan glanced at the others to see their reaction to the evident screening tactic. He'd be able to see fine in it, but he wasn't sure if it's benefit for the others would outweigh the added visual difficulty.

But Jean simply looked ready, so the X-Men must practice in the fog to be adapted to it. Unfortunately, that currently only accounted for Jean and Storm. Behind them, Magneto looked mildly put out while Mystique gazed unblinkingly forward, her body in a deceptively relaxed pose. Logan was able to tell only from experience fighting against her that she was ready to take action the second it was necessary. Nightcrawler was examining the fog curiously, his tail flicking behind him at shoulder level. Logan hoped he would stay back and out of the way if he was going to continue to treat the experience like an overly interesting field trip.

Logan was the first through the door. Moving as quickly as he could from figure to figure, he cut the soldiers' weapons in half. The last thing they needed was to contend with bullet wounds. A few of the men fled at his actions, and Logan had to fight back his inner feral's desire to chase them down. He turned to check on the others. Storm was using short bursts of electricity to zap the men nearest her. Nightcrawler was watching the weather witch's back, popping in and out of view accompanied by puffs of smoke and tumbled humans. The dark blue mutant wasn't so useless after all.

Mystique was more than holding her own, her fighting style only slightly dissimilar to the one Marie had used when pretending to be her. Magneto was using the metal clasps on either end of the soldiers' weapon straps to choke the men with them. Jean seemed the least capable in the fight. She was holding a few men off by throwing smallish debris at them with her telekinesis, but she wasn't putting anyone out of commission the way the others were. Luckily, Storm and Nightcrawler noticed and began taking up the slack. The main part of the fight didn't last long.

Logan sliced through whoever got within reach. As the others spread out in the room to take care of the stragglers, he placed himself in the approximate middle of their group so that he would easily be able to reach whoever needed his help the most. He begrudgingly included Magneto and Mystique in this safety net. He knew the outcome of the current mission relied at least in part on having as many people on his and Marie's side as possible. And there was always the fact that _he_ wanted to be the one to punish them for what they'd done to Marie two years ago. No racist government stooge was going to take that privilege away from him.

They disabled the men in the room quickly. It helped that Marie had put several of them out of commission in her initial infiltration and that, apparently, many of the ones she hadn't gotten to had left the room. Whether it was to guard Stryker as he pushed forward with his plan or to try to get to Marie to take her down, Logan didn't know. His heart thumped painfully hard against his adamantium coated ribs at the thought of the second option. But he forced himself to focus on the moment at hand. Sloppy work due to lack of concentration was not going to help him get to her any sooner or make her any safer.

The room was secure moments later. If they'd had more people with them and less to do, Logan would have suggested leaving someone behind to hold the room since it was their exit point. In his mind it would have been a better task for Pyro and Bobby than sitting in the jet and twiddling their thumbs, but he wasn't in charge. As it was they had to press forward together. He glanced over to see Jean doing a visual check of their small force. Magneto, however, was not concerned with everyone else. He strode confidently toward the large door they'd watch Marie, as Mystique, slide under not too long ago. Jean frowned and stopped what she was doing to follow closely at his heels. Everyone else fell in shortly after.

Logan hung back to bring up the rear. His position an effort in both protecting their flank and staying as far from Magneto's magnetic field as possible when the older mutant began forcing the door open with his power. It came open faster and seemingly easier than Logan had anticipated. It made him think that wherever Marie was, she had undone whatever lockdown measures Stryker might have had in place. He took it the best way he could: as a sign that she was okay, that everything was going according to whatever she and Mystique had planned. It also made him wonder if Magneto's way of opening the door had even been necessary. It was ironic given the buckethead's "scratch it with your claws" comment from earlier. How was Magneto's showy use of his powers any different?

The group continued on their way through the hallways. Mystique subtly indicated which direction to go when they got to different intersections so Magneto could stay in the lead position despite the fact that it was obviously the shapeshifter who knew the layout. About a minute later they reached a turn in the hall that led to a pair of soldiers trying to get into a blast door by welding a large rectangular hole in it.

With a flick of his wrist, Magneto sent the men's equipment flying away from them, rather effectively announcing the mutants' arrival. Logan was about to step forward and finish the soldiers off, but they were lifted from the ground before he could so much as move. They floated several feet off the ground. Logan glanced to the side to see Jean standing with one hand flung forward, a look of intense concentration on her face. After a few moments, she moved them slightly so they were out of the way of the door.. Yet she made no move to set them down. Logan frowned in confusion but shrugged it off. Perhaps Jean wanted to ask them for any necessary information once they'd gotten into the control room.

Magneto stepped closer to the door, and apparently felt the need to show off his power in yet another grandiose gesture. Instead of just causing the section the soldiers had been using the welding torch to cut out to peel away from the rest of the large metal door, he took the whole thing out of the wall.

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Rogue was still typing as she tried to find as much information about the structure as she could. She jumped slightly when the door behind her was pulled out of the cement wall with a very audible scraping noise. Magneto and Jean were both visible through the resulting hole. Magneto had one arm held outward at shoulder level from the effort of pulling the door out. Jean was behind and slightly to the side of him, her own arm extended in a similar fashion toward two uniformed men she was holding telekinetically in midair.

When the door had been set out of the way by Magneto, Jean flung the men into the hall's far wall, the two unconscious individuals slumping in a heap at its base. Rogue realized when she met the redhead's narrow gaze that she'd held them that way until Rogue could see the display as a warning. She almost laughed at the thought. She knew that if Jean ever tried to use telekinesis on her, all she had to do was use Xavier's gift to break Jean's concentration.

Turning her attention back to the video screens as the others filed quickly into the room, Rogue felt the hair on her neck stand at attention when Logan came in last. She knew it had to be him because of the way her body reacted and the fact that his focus, unlike everyone else's, was completely on her. She wondered for a moment if he was mad about the deception and whether he would think to connect it to what had happened in his tent the night before. But she pushed her concern aside, reminding herself that what he thought of her should no longer matter so much to her if she was going to move on with her life.

And she had to do so if she had any sense of self-preservation. She would never respect herself or be able to survive by simply taking whatever crumbs of affection he deigned to toss her way. She would not, could not, settle for less than all of his heart. And unfortunately he'd already chosen someone else to give it to.

"Have you found it?" Magneto demanded, drawing her thoughts away from Logan.

"A large portion of energy from the dam has been diverted to this chamber," Rogue answered, putting in a command that showed the schematics of the base and then just the large round chamber on the biggest of the screens at her disposal.

"Cerebro," Storm breathed disbelievingly at the same time Magneto confirmed, "There it is."

"Can you shut it down from here?" Storm asked.

Rogue shook her head, having tried just that in the first few moments after finding the room. "No."

"Come," Magneto said to Mystique. "There's little time."

Jean frowned. "Not without us."

Just then Storm took notice of the screen on which Rogue had kept the image of the containment cell the kids were being held in. "Oh my god, the children. Kurt, will you come with me?"

"Yes," Nightcrawler responded with a decisive nod.

Storm turned her head and asked Rogue, "Where are they?"

Rogue had felt Logan continuously staring at her since he had entered the room, but his attention had now shifted off of her. Glancing at the screens, she noticed Stryker hurrying down a hallway on one of them. She had a strong feeling that was where all of Logan's focus now was.

After a moment, Rogue answered Storm, "They're being held in a containment cell one level down. I've turned off the electric charge Stryker had running through the walls but I can't unlock the door from here. I've pulled up the quickest route to the cell."

"Stryker," she heard Logan mutter under his breath, too light for anyone else to hear him. Rogue wasn't surprised when quiet footsteps signaled him leaving the room. He'd been looking for answers for seventeen long years, and Stryker was the best and only real lead he'd ever had.

"Alright," Storm was saying. "We'll get the children and meet the rest of you at Cerebro."

"Okay," Jean agreed. "I'll try to find Scott and the Professor along the way."

Storm looked worried, glancing at Magneto and Mystique before her gaze returned to her friend, "Will you be alright without us?"

"Yeah," Jean assured. "I'll be fine."

Storm looked around the room and frowned deeper. "Where's Logan?"

"He's gone," Jean remarked in a sad tone.

A few of them turned their heads to follow Jean's gaze to the earbud lying on a bunch of pipes near the opening that had once been a doorway.

"He went after Stryker," Rogue corrected firmly. "Stryker needs to be stopped. We can't let something like this happen again. And if Logan can find out about his past in the process, so be it."

"I'll go with Magneto and Mystique to find the Professor and Scott," Jean said, ignoring Rogue's point. "Storm and Nightcrawler will find the children and meet us at the Cerebro chamber. What are you going to do since you _insisted_ on being here?"

She hadn't actually insisted on anything, she'd just done it, but Rogue didn't think anyone was in the mood for semantics, least of all herself. The less she had to deal with or talk to Jean while she was in this state of mind, the better for everyone concerned. The temporary calmness she'd gotten from communicating with Decipher had rapidly worn off under the redhead's hostility.

"I can stay here," Rogue answered, "and watch the monitors for as long as it takes some of the soldiers to try to get in here again. When that happens, I'll destroy the controls and head toward whoever needs my help."

"Come," Magneto commanded Mystique and Jean before anyone had the chance to argue with her decision. "We can no longer afford to waste time."

Magneto and his 'team' left first, Rogue watching her mother from under her lashes until the shapeshifter was out of sight. With one last look at the surveillance footage of the holding cell and the way to get to it, Storm and Nightcrawler turned to leave as well. But Rogue touched Nightcrawler's arm, stopping them momentarily.

"Be careful, mein bruden," Rogue said lightly.

Kurt looked surprised for a moment and then nodded with a slight, worried smile. Rogue knew he had accepted her calling him that in the tradition of 'we are all brothers.' For now, it had to be enough. This was certainly not the time to be explaining their twisted family tree. The absent thought caused her stomach to clench painfully, but she ignored and suppressed it, turning her full attention back to the screens before her.

Storm turned to go before hesitating and turning back to Rogue, squeezing the younger woman's shoulder. "Thank you for your part in all of this. I am sorry if my lack of trust made any of it harder on you."

Rogue smiled tightly. "It's alright, Storm. I had choices to make that, while I don't regret them, could understandably be misinterpreted by someone who didn't know the whole story. Now go. Magneto was right in this at least, we don't have a lot of time."

With a nod, Storm was gone, Kurt following closely behind her.

A few minutes later, Rogue saw that a group of soldiers would soon be at her location. Cursing softly under her breath, Rogue took a glance at all of the screens in front of her. Able to note no immediate threat to any of the small groups she'd been watching out for, Rogue stood up and backed away from the system, destroying it quickly through manipulation of the metal parts in the machines.

Rogue knew she didn't have too much time before she had to help Logan, but she was unable to completely trust Storm and Nightcrawler to get the children out quickly enough. She gave in to her need to rescue Decipher herself, heading in the direction the weather witch and teleporter had gone. She lifted off the floor after a few steps, able to fly faster than she could run even with the restriction of the narrow hallways.

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Mystique walked quickly but confidently down the hallway at Magneto's side, Jean Grey following behind them. In normal circumstances she would never turn her back on any of the X-Men, especially this one, but she knew the telekinetic telepath wouldn't try anything while Magneto was still of use to them. But as she and Magneto went flying face down to the ground as if a giant hand had shoved them, Mystique had to wonder for a moment if she'd been mistaken in that judgment.

And then the hallway was filled with a blast of red light that shook the hall and sent debris raining down on them. It took a second longer to realize Jean Grey had actually _saved_ them. And from Scott Summers.

"Go!" Jean yelled at them. "I'll take care of him!"

Knowing the visored mutant had been in Stryker's hands for more than long enough for the human to use his mind control serum on Cyclops, Mystique was not about to argue. Besides, she still owed Summers for helping her when Rogue had been lost in her own mind. Mystique wouldn't fight him unless it was absolutely necessary until her debt to him was paid.

"This is one lover's quarrel we cannot get involved in, my dear," Magneto murmured to Mystique as they picked themselves off the floor and continued to head for the cheap copy of Cerebro.

When Magneto had caught her in Rogue's form the night before, she'd had to tell him about Rogue's issues with the Wolverine and Jean Grey in order to explain why she was in it. He had somehow always been able to tell when she was in disguise, no matter who she was posing as. Mystique just hoped that he wouldn't end up using the information about Rogue's feelings for the feral mutant against her. Rogue had more than enough to deal with as it was, and she seemed particularly vulnerable where the Wolverine was concerned. Magneto was well known for using people's vulnerabilities against them to get what he wanted.

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Logan felt part of his subconscious pestering him to go back and make sure Marie didn't need his help. But he knew if he were near her he would not be able to suppress his need to get answers from her. And even more than that his need to simply hold her and make sure everything was okay.

Despite the situation, or perhaps because of it, she had seemed in her element, and that worried him. Logan had not left her with Xavier so that the telepath would turn her into something useful for himself and his vision for human-mutant relations. Marie had been dressed in a formfitting bodysuit of dark green and black. Though it wasn't X-Men leathers, Logan recognized it as a uniform, and a very flattering one at that. Perhaps something to do with her skin allowed for the difference from what the others all wore.

In any case, now wasn't the time for getting answers or taking action. At least not in the way he wanted when he'd seen her in that outfit. Besides, if he even started to question her, the others would see it as a reprimand. Marie was already getting more than her fair share of hassling from Jean and Magneto. So Logan pushed down the urge to go back to her and continued jogging down the cold hallways.

They all looked the same, and he wasn't even sure he was going the right way. Nearly ten minutes had passed before he caught more than a faint whiff of Stryker's scent. It was enough to show that it was fresher than the ghost of a scent that he had found in most of the hallways. Hurrying his steps, Logan hoped that he'd be able to get enough out of Stryker to be able to put his mysterious past behind him. Then he could start working on securing the future for himself that he'd never truly cared about until he'd met Marie.

_**To be continued…**_

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**Translation**: _mein bruden_ is, of course, German for _my brother_


	24. Chapter 24

**Reading Key:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Chapter Note**: Just to avoid confusion, the way the children get out of the room changes so drastically because it is _Rogue_ that tells Storm where they are. I assume Mystique only told Storm and Nightcrawler how to get above the cell in order to slow them down so they couldn't stop Magneto. That doesn't apply now. Again, a little note to remind you that scenes that I'm not changing at all may be skipped over.

I'm sorry about the delay on this chapter, I was sick and then this chapter was giving me a hard time so I worked on a couple other things to get passed the block. It eventually worked, unfortunately I then sprained my left hand making it very difficult and painful to type.

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Storm hurried in the direction Rogue had indicated on a map on one of the screens in the control room. The narrow metal-enclosed staircase she and Nightcrawler had gone down had been a painful reminder of the fact that they were underground. But Storm was able to push down the rising threat of her claustrophobia by concentrating on the children, remembering how they had looked huddling in that cold room in their pajamas.

Decipher had seemed oddly calm when Storm had seen him with the other children on the screen, but she assumed it was because he was the only one of the group that had previously been a prisoner. Artie had been abandoned and Jubilee had been a runaway, but neither had ever been locked up, and the rest of the group was made up of mutants who had at least one parent left in their lives to go home to at the end of the school year.

A minute later, she and Nightcrawler came to a door that resembled one that might be commonplace in a submarine. More of a capsule shape than a rectangular one, the door had a small round window at about face level. Unfortunately, the door did not have a handle. One of the children noticed the movement outside the window.

"Help us!" A boy's voice shouted.

Storm knew it was Artie from the sound of his voice. She couldn't actually see him through the window. But she did see one of the school's older students while peering through the metal grating covering the small window.

"Jubilee," she called.

The Asian teen didn't respond verbally, but a very relieved expression came over her features.

Artie cried out again, "Help. Get us out of here."

Storm soothed, "Okay, we're coming."

She turned her head to where Nightcrawler no longer stood. The other mutant's signature sulfuric smell from the use of his power was all that shared the space in the hall with her for long moments before a_bamf_ noise announced his return, one of the children with him. Artie promptly bent double and threw up. Evidently not everyone took to teleporting all that well. Nightcrawler looked mildly uncomfortable, but turned to face the cell again, causing Storm to remember what he'd said about having to see where he was going. Thank goodness for that small window.

Nightcrawler was about to teleport into the room once more when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Storm jumped slightly when he did, neither of them having heard Rogue coming.

"Allow me," she said before stepping up close to the cell.

'What is she doing?' Storm wondered when Rogue tilted her head as if listening to the door.

She didn't think she'd said it aloud, but Rogue answered nonetheless. "I'm feeling out the metal components of the locking mechanism so I can open the door without doing structural damage to the wall. The children's safety is more important than the few seconds we'd save if I just ripped the door free."

A moment later, there was a metal clank from inside the door before it swung open. The children scrambled out of the circular room in which they'd been confined. Jubilee and Decipher allowed the younger kids to exit first, the youngsters swarming to Storm and latching onto her. Jubilee smiled at Storm over the heads of the other children, but Decipher's attention was on Rogue. It didn't surprise the weather witch. Rogue _had_ been the one to free the Hispanic teen and his twin sister from the lab they'd been held in, and she had stayed in contact with them since. She was the closest thing to family that the two had.

"Chita's okay?" the boy asked softly after hugging Rogue briefly.

Rogue nodded, "She's with Piotr. You know he would never let anything happen to her."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But it was you who got her out safely. And it's you here rescuing us."

A part of Storm wanted to refute that statement, to tell Decipher that the X-Men were the ones here to save everyone, but she knew it wasn't entirely true. The X-Men would not have even found this place if it hadn't been for Magneto's intel about Nightcrawler being the key to finding Stryker's base. And Storm knew from what Mystique had said when it had been revealed that Rogue had taken her place for the initial infiltration that a big part of why Rogue had even come was because of Decipher. She had to wonder how many more children would have been captured if Rogue hadn't been at the mansion. She also knew that no matter how much Rogue had been essential to the success of each step they'd taken so far, the younger woman was unlikely to get much credit, and certainly not her fair share of the praise should this mission go their way. When all was said and done, Rogue would go right back to that indescribable position between ally and enemy that she had inhabited for the past two years. And with Magneto's return, Rogue's safety and future were very much in question. So let her have all the credit in Decipher's eyes at the very least. Rogue deserved it.

Rogue smiled at Decipher and squeezed his shoulder with a gloved hand before turning toward the rest of them. "Go to Cerebro now, Jean will meet you there with Scott."

Storm noticed that Rogue hadn't mentioned Magneto and Mystique, but she felt her other question was more important, "Where are you going?"

"To help Logan," she responded.

Nodding an acknowledgment, Storm turned to begin herding the children in the direction of the Cerebro chamber. But one of them didn't want to cooperate.

"I'm going with you," Decipher called after Rogue, jogging in her footsteps.

Rogue turned and shook her head, holding her hand up in a 'stop' position. "It's too dangerous."

"Then you shouldn't go alone," the teenager argued.

Rogue stepped closer to Decipher and lowered her voice slightly, but Storm could still hear her. "If something does happen to me, 'Chita and Piotr will need you to be strong for them. And I can't be at my best if I'm worried about you. The mutant I have to fight is like Logan, fast, strong and a super-healer with a few unnatural enhancements. I'll need all my focus to be on my task."

Storm frowned. How could she know so much about who she would have to fight in order to help Logan? She was forced to dismiss it as intel that Mystique had shared with Rogue and not with the rest of them. Or perhaps even something Rogue had found while in the control room.

Decipher hugged Rogue one more time and demanded, "Be careful."

"I will," Rogue assured before turning and running in the direction opposite that which they had to go to get to Cerebro.

"Come on, Decipher," Storm urged. "The sooner we stop Stryker, the more quickly all of us can get out of here."

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Jean startled to an awake state, flailing her arms when she realized someone was right next to her. The last thing she remembered was Scott attacking her with the full power of his optic blast, and then the surge of energy inside herself that she identified with the strange feelings she'd been getting every so often since the Statue of Liberty incident. Obviously the energy had been enough to reinforce her telekinetic shield and protect her, but it still scared her.

It was Scott's voice, something she'd hadn't heard in far too long despite it only being a couple days, that attempted to sooth her, "Jean, it's okay. It's okay. It's me."

But although she exchanged reassuring but brief conversation with Scott, Jean wasn't calmed. Unlike each previous time, in the jet when she'd blown up one of the two missiles the most recent, she could not get that strange energy to recede. In fact, it felt as if it were getting stronger by the minute, trying to take her over. True panic began to take root.

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Logan stopped tracking momentarily when he heard and felt a rumbling. 'That didn't sound good.' Knowing standing still and worrying about it wasn't going to do anything, Logan resumed his search for Stryker. Moments later, he turned down yet another corridor only to find that it led into a large room straight out of his nightmares.

Something in the room was giving everything a greenish tint, but Logan was too busy absorbing everything else to look for whatever it was. The tank he recognized from his dream-memories was on the left side of the room, a vat of boiling silver liquid at its head. There were gouges in various parts of the room… the tank, the support columns, the walls.

The nightmare was real; it had really happened. Here, in this room.

His gaze rose to a wall of light boxes as his fingers traced some of the gouge marks. Evidently he had not been their only subject, because there were x-rays he recognized as his from quick mental comparison to the ones Jean had taken two years ago, but others there could not belong to him. Some of them were of a man larger than him, but this male had not gotten the full treatment; Logan only seeing bands of metal around arm and leg bones. Others belonged to someone much more slender, someone who'd had adamantium fused into their fingers in a similar way to the claws that he had in his forearms.

Images from the nightmare he'd had the night of the attack on the mansion… had it really only been two nights ago… flashed through his mind's eye, more details trying to escape from the dark pit his memories were lost in. His internal struggle was the only reason he didn't hear the footsteps in the hall behind him until they were nearly in the same room. He spun to find the object of his hunt, along with an Asian woman with unreal pale blue eyes and a vacant expression.

Stryker started walking down into the stairs that led from the hall into the room, the woman following. "The tricky thing about adamantium is that if you ever manage to process its raw liquid form, you gotta keep it that way. Keep it hot. Because once the metal cools, it's indestructible. But you already know that." Stryker paused and shook his head, an almost wistful tone to his voice when he continued, "I used to think you were one of a kind, Wolverine." The military man headed back up the stairs, walking sideways so he could keep his eyes on Logan, "I was wrong."

He'd reached the top of the stairs, and now he turned and left, his pudgy form moving in a hurried manner. Logan attempted to run after him, but a sucker punch to the gut from Stryker's lackey stopped him. The hit had hurt a lot more than it should. He straightened slightly and unleashed his claws, ready to end this fight quickly so he could catch up with Stryker. So he could finally put his past where it belonged, behind him.

The Asian woman took more of a fighting stance and raised her hands. Logan's eyes widened when her fingernails extended a good foot and a half. They were sharp points, and glinted with the all too familiar gleam of adamantium.

"Holy shit," he swore, no longer so sure how quickly he could get this fight over with.

His adversary launched herself off the floor and did an impression of a helicopter. The spin attack forced him to move further back into the room and sliced into his face. He struck back at her, and they traded blows. Logan was forced further and further back into the room by his opponent. She was smaller, faster and more agile than he, and apparently much more used to fighting in constraining leather.

Eventually she got close enough for Logan to slam the claws of one hand into her gut as she ran at him. They continued to trade slicing blows until he was able to slam his other hand into her gut. To his confusion, she simply wrapped on hand around each of his wrists and held on. She looked up at him, and his eyes went wide as the cuts on her face healed. Slightly slower than his, but they healed nonetheless. So that was what Stryker had meant about him not being one of a kind.

She then proceeded to climb up him, still holding his arms as she removed his claws from her stomach the hard way. When she'd freed herself, she kicked him away from her. Now knowing that she would be nearly as hard to stop as he was, Logan was at a loss as to how to end this sometime this century. His superior senses, which he doubted she also had… that would be way too much of a coincidence… would not help in a close quarters fight. And she was too fast and intent on continuing to attack him for him to be able to put any significant distance between them.

The Asian woman got too close again and was able to stab him several times in succession before throwing him onto a steel mesh platform that appeared to be a cover for the tank he still had nightmares about being in. Before he could roll off the thing, she grabbed him by the neck from below and proceeded to stab him in the lower back multiple times. He roared in pain and anger. It did not feel good to have his kidneys used as a pincushion. His sounds of rage took on a gargling noise when she began slicing into his lungs as well. Logan lashed out, slicing through the chains holding the cover. Evidently he severed the right one because all of it dropped. His opponent landed in the tank below him with a loud splash. The surging water from her thrashing lapped at the back of his uniform, letting him know that she was probably stuck under the surface for at least a few minutes.

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Bobby watched John pace the length of the fore-section of the jet, glad at least that the other teen wasn't flicking his lighter. He did think it odd that he wasn't since it was what John did when he was bored, anxious or any other emotion, but he was also thankful. He wasn't sure he could deal with remembering the last time John had been flicking it in his presence… back at his house yesterday when his parents had…

"That's it," John suddenly exclaimed, stopping Bobby's train of thought from going where he really didn't want it to.

John slammed his hand on the button that opened the rear door, heading to the back of the jet once it started to descend. Bobby's eyes widened and he stood. But he couldn't bring himself to follow the other boy.

"Where are you going?" he called instead, hoping his friend would stop his rash actions if he would have to go through with them alone.

"I'm sick of this kid's table shit," John responded harshly. "I'm going in there."

Bobby swallowed past the lump that rose is his throat, knowing somehow that this was going to be a major turning point in their friendship. But he just couldn't go against Storm and Jean's order. If he and John got into trouble, who knew if there would still be a place for him at Xavier's. And he no longer had anywhere else to go.

"John, they told us to stay here."

John narrowed his eyes, "You always do as you're told?"

Bobby begged John silently with his eyes to reconsider, but the other boy turned away and left. Alone and worried, Bobby glanced back at the controls, wondering how the others were doing and how much longer he would have to wait, heart in his stomach.

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Logan gasped for air as his lungs healed. He always healed from the inside out, and it was long moments before he felt recovered enough to roll off the metal grating that acted as a lid to the submersion tank. When he regained his feet and looked up, he froze. Marie was standing in one of the doorways to the room. He was so surprised to see her there, having expected the others to try to keep her out of the way, that he failed to fully register his adversary's movement behind him. She made to stab him again, his delayed reaction causing her nails to slice his side but not stab into him as she had intended.

He whirled out of reach, grabbing the gas station-like pump that fed from the tank of boiling adamantium. He intended to stab it into the woman, feeling it was the only way to stop her, but the device was pulled from his hand before he had the chance. It took him a few moments to realize the Asian woman had a struggling expression on her face despite the fact that she was frozen in place and hadn't been able to attack him. Only two people could control metal that way, and he'd just seen one of them. He turned toward Marie, expecting an explanation and getting one.

"She's under Stryker's control due to a serum." Marie had one hand out toward the woman she spoke of, fingers spread. "I know you had no choice but to fight her to the death, but if I can save her by holding her off until the serum wears off, all the better. Now go, Logan, before Stryker gets away."

He took a few steps towards her, even though it was the other doorway he needed to go through to follow Stryker. Marie noticed and shook her head at him.

"Go, Logan," she said firmly.

"I'm not leaving you here with her."

Marie smirked slightly, "I think I can hold her."

Logan hesitated. He didn't doubt that she could do as she was suggesting, but part of him still needed to make sure she was safe and wouldn't come to any harm. They'd already had more than their fair share of close calls.

"Logan," her voice was softer this time. "If you let him go now, you may never get the answers you want."

He ached to kiss her, just a swift press of lips to show her his appreciation and also to reassure himself that she was doing fine. But he was already worn down from his fight with the Asian woman. He would heal and be prepared when he caught up with Stryker. But he might not heal _enough_ if he did what he so wanted. And Marie didn't need the distraction of a fresh dose of his personality in her head while trying to concentrate on keeping his attacker contained.

"Be careful." Logan turned and ran in the direction Stryker had disappeared, hearing her soft command as he went.

"You, too."

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Magneto reached out with his power as he and Mystique neared the turn in the corridor that would lead them to Stryker's copy of Cerebro. He could feel the number of men waiting for them by the positioning of guns, ammo, knives, zippers and grenades. He smiled darkly, knowing the easiest way to get the men out of the way. Normally he'd enjoy torturing them slowly, but he knew time was of the essence to put the fear of a God he no longer believed in into the humans and still be able to get away before Xavier's precious X-Men stopped him. He was not going back to jail, no matter what they had planned.

With little more than a thought, his powers now back to full strength, Magneto pulled the pins from the grenades worn by the soldiers standing between him and one of his more immediate goals. Waiting just long enough for the series of explosions to settle, he walked forward through the resulting debris, putting on his helmet as he moved. He wasn't careless enough to go into a room with two telepathically powerful individuals without the helmet's shielding. Mystique followed behind him until she suddenly stopped. When he heard her collapse, he turned back, concerned.

Mystique screamed, "Erik, hurry!"

He flinched when he saw her skin rippling continuously, her form changing from one second to the next in separate areas. So Charles had already succumbed to the manipulation Stryker had planned out. Magneto had known Mystique a long time, and he knew control was important to her, maybe even more important than it was to him. Setting his jaw, he turned back to the round door in front of him and concentrated on pulling it from the wall. After a few more seconds, Magneto could hear that the attack must have stopped. Mystique was panting behind him, but she was at least no longer making sounds of pain and fear.

Stepping through the now open doorway, Magneto looked down at Jason on his way to Xavier, tapping his helmet with a dark grin when the surgically scarred and wheelchair bound mutant stared at him.

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Rogue gasped as the horrendous pain in her head suddenly stopped. She could hear things in the room, metal and not, falling to the floor as she struggled to recover. She'd lost control when the attack had begun and it was taking time to push all her powers back where they belonged. Through the telepathy she had gotten from her contact with Xavier, she could feel all the other mutants in the compound recovering as well. Whether it was because the complex was so isolated or because her other abilities running rampant hampered the strength of her telepathy, Rogue was grateful at least that she could feel no one beyond those in the vicinity of the base.

Storm and Nightcrawler had pushed down their own feelings in an effort to sooth the still very frightened children; Decipher's foremost thought was his gratitude that his sister had not been here to go through it. Rogue just hoped he'd handle it okay when he realized that no mutant in the world had been spared from Xavier's attack. Scott and Jean were dealing as well as could be expected, especially after what else they'd just been through. Rogue shied away from the deeper pain that Jean was feeling, knowing from the burning of the little bit of power she still somehow had from the other woman that something terrible was going to happen soon. And she really wasn't ready to deal with that yet.

Logan hadn't liked the fact that someone had almost been able to bring him down from inside his own head, but he was pushing it to the back of his mind, already intent on continuing his pursuit of Stryker. Bobby, alone in the jet, was scared and worried about what he should or shouldn't do. Because the attack had occurred at all, he was afraid the plan was not going the way it was supposed to and that the others would not make it back to the jet. John, who had been trudging through the snow toward the complex, was pissed… at the X-Men, at the humans, at himself.

Xavier was still trapped in Stryker's son's illusion, though he'd temporarily been stopped in his task of "finding all the mutants." She couldn't feel Magneto, but she knew through her mother, who was very anxious for Xavier's attack to _never_ happen again, that the metal manipulator was about to go forward in his own plans. She was just considering whether contacting Xavier herself would do any good while subconsciously rising from where she'd fallen when a sharp, deep pain wiped any other thought from her mind.

Rogue was dragged back into her own physical senses with a suddenness that made her head spin. She looked down to see two hands pressing into her stomach, fingers first. Fingers whose adamantium nails had pierced into and through her body. Somehow, despite all the powers she'd gained since then, this hurt much more than when Logan had accidentally stabbed her in the chest. The Asian woman she'd unintentionally let go when Xavier's attack had started tried to dig her fingers in deeper, and the tip of one finger found skin in the small tear in Rogue's uniform.

Luckily, Rogue was able to push the other female away a moment later, barely getting anything from her attacker. Only enough to know that her name was Yuriko but that Stryker had preferred calling her Lady Deathstrike, and that Yuriko had originally come to Stryker to try to find her missing father. Rogue also realized that, despite the warped perception of time due to the serum's influence, the length of time Yuriko had been lost inside Lady Deathstrike meant she'd very likely been the first victim of Stryker's mind control experiments.

Holding Yuriko back once more by the adamantium in her body, Rogue waited the few minutes it took to fully heal and for her powers to once more return to the levels she usually kept them at. When she could once more move without pain or dizziness, Rogue focused at her temporary enemy. She frowned, trying to think of some way for this to go faster. Time was quickly running out, but she couldn't rejoin the others until Yuriko was in control of herself and no longer a danger to them.

With a sigh at the thought of the pain she was going to have to subject herself to, Rogue dropped the magnetic field she'd been projecting. She had to physically wear Yuriko down so that the serum would wear off. And that meant submitting herself to a fight with another super healer… one whose fingernails would make Freddy Krueger jealous.

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Still reeling from the loss of control she'd just been through, Mystique moved to stand in the doorway but came no further into the room that was a cheap copy of Xavier's powerful device. She had no intention of drawing Jason's attention to herself before her part in Magneto's exit strategy.

The metal manipulator had moved passed the illusionist to stand behind his former friend. In a condescending tone, he asked the still-unaware telepath, "How does it look from there, Charles? Still fighting the good fight? From here, it doesn't look like they're playing by your rules. Maybe it's time to play by theirs."

Mystique watched, impressed as always by his abilities and strength, as Magneto levitated to the center of the circular room and began rearranging the panels. When he finished his task and landed, she changed forms to imitate Stryker and walked into the room.

Reaching Jason, she leaned down to tell Jason with his father's voice, "There's been a change of plan."

Magneto held her eyes, grinning maliciously, as Mystique whispered to Jason the words Magneto had given her earlier. When she was done, she stepped back and to the side, waiting for Magneto to leave the room first so she could follow as she was supposed to.

Magneto tapped the back of the wheelchair Xavier was in with one hand, saying clearly, "Goodbye, Charles."

As Magneto moved passed her, Mystique reverted to her own form, the one she preferred and not the naked scaled version. They left the room nearly in step, and when they returned to the hallway, Magneto resealed the door leading to the Cerebro-esque chamber. Mystique indicated silently which way to go to get to the backdoor she'd found on the blueprints she'd stolen from Stryker's office. Magneto began walking in that direction, stopping and turning around with a frown when she didn't follow.

"I can't abandon her again, Erik," Mystique answered his unasked question.

Magneto scowled. "I will need you to get out of here. She won't. We need to leave now before Charles' precious X-Men catch up with us."

Mystique hesitated, not sure she could actually tell him no.

He stalked back to her, grasping her chin in his gloved fingers and forcing her to meet his gaze. "You'll see her again soon enough. I will be leaving you in charge of the Brotherhood House for at least several months while I… take care of some other things. I won't make you choose between us."

Mystique relaxed slightly, knowing that even if the X-Men were somehow unable to escape, her daughter would. Marie would not throw her life away for them. Some of the tension returned when Magneto tacked an addendum onto his statement.

"Yet."

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Logan finally caught up with his target as the human prepared a helicopter for take off. Able to sneak up on the unsuspecting man with little effort, Logan grabbed Stryker just as he tossed away a set of triangular wheel blocks that had been connected by a length of chain. Spinning him, Logan pinned Stryker to the nose of the helicopter, quite literally after a moment, slicing the claws of one hand into the tender part of his upper arm. Stryker's scream of pain echoed in the still clearing.

"How does it feel, bub?" Logan snarled.

Stryker, gasping, ignored Logan's question to ask one of his own, "Why did you come back?"

Logan snarled, "You cut me open… you took my life!"

"You make it sound as if I took something from you," Stryker responded derisively. "As I recall, it was you who volunteered for the procedure."

Logan frowned, unable to smell a lie on the man, but unable to believe him either. Why would he have _chosen_ to undergo something that had been so horrible it had haunted him for nearly twenty years despite the fact that he hadn't actually been able to remember it happening?

"Who am I?"

"You…" Stryker sneered, "are just a failed experiment."

Logan turned his wrist slightly, further opening the wound his claws were making.

But after an initial outcry of pain, Stryker found the strength to continue, though his voice showed some of the strain he was feeling, "If you really knew about your past, what kind of person you were, the work we did together… People don't change, Wolverine. You were an animal then; you're an animal now. I just gave you claws."

An alarm began sounding and they both turned their heads to stare momentarily at the structure behind them.

"What the hell is that?" When he didn't get an immediate answer, Logan twisted his wrist again to up Stryker's pain level. "What is it?"

Stryker groaned and panted in pain, "The dam's ruptured. It's gonna flood water onto the spillway. It's trying to relieve the pressure, but it's too late. In a few minutes, we'll be underwater. Come with me and I'll tell you everything you want to know. You can't help your friends; they're as good as dead, Wolverine. You're a survivor, always have been."

Logan sneered at him, not amused by all the contradictions in everything Stryker had told him, "Oh? I thought I was just an animal… with claws." He extended said appendages on the hand not holding the human pinned to the helicopter. He narrowed his eyes. "If we die, you die."

'If_she_ dies, you'll beg for death _days_ before I'm through with you,' he added in his head but not out loud.

Logan chained Stryker quickly to the front wheel of the helicopter, the other man alternating between threats and bribes to get him to release him. Logan ignored him.

As he headed back toward the compound, he heard Stryker warn, "There are no exits that way, Wolverine."

But one thing Stryker had said had been true. Logan was a survivor. And he was going to make damn sure Marie was too.

_**To be continued…**_

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**Author's Note:** A recent anonymous reviewer (why people? I understand not wanting to go through the hassle of getting an account if you don't write, but if you have a complaint or question, at least let me know your email address so I can get back to you) pointed out that back in chapter 11 Carol Danvers "died" from being shot in the head when she's supposedly bulletproof as well as the fact that Rogue had been given a shot (saying that this was impossible as her skin is impenetrable) to knock her out. First of all, Carol _didn't_ die and she wasn't bulletproof at the time since Rogue had almost sucked her dry by that point. As for Rogue, I said from the beginning that this is at least slightly AU, so I guess you can take her powers that way too (in any case, we all know she isn't completely invulnerable or no one in the comics/cartoon could ever have stopped her in a fight). I specifically described the powers she got from Carol as her being invulnerable to projectiles and a certain amount of concussive force; neither one of those covers needles (unless of course they were needles that were fired at her). Her skin isn't impenetrable, just invulnerable to certain things.


	25. Chapter 25

**Reading Key:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note 1:** This chapter wraps up the events of X2, the next chapter will move on from there. I will be using aspects of X3 (the "cure," Phoenix, Magneto rebuilding his following, etc.) but nowhere near the same storyline. The next several chapters will touch on plot lines that were already in place before incorporating those ideas. Please be sure to see the second author's note at the bottom of the page when you're done reading the chapter.

Also, views on religion expressed briefly in the beginning of this chapter are not mine and are not meant to offend anyone.

I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the wait.

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Once her own pain and terror had passed and she'd been able to calm the children, Storm once more continued ushering them where they needed to be. Nightcrawler followed, only slightly subdued by the near death experience. Storm supposed that he'd grown unfortunately used to not being in control of his fate. She heard him uttering what sounded like a prayer as they moved but chose to ignore it.

Growing up in her small village in Africa, her only gods and spirits had been the earth and the elements. This nature-based spirituality had only deepened once her mutation had manifested. And though she tried to be understanding of other people's beliefs, she could not help but feel disdain for religions that excluded people.

The group came to another turn, and Storm returned her focus to the task at hand. Seeing the rubble from what had to have been a fatal and messy explosion, Storm urged the children to huddle in a group near the wall, telling Jubilee and Decipher to watch the younger students. When she was sure they would do as they'd been told, she moved carefully close to the large door that only resembled that of Cerebro in that it was round and large.

"What is this?" Nightcrawler asked from just behind her.

"Cerebro."

It was all she was able to give as an answer before footsteps had them both turning back to the children, ready to defend the younger mutants from any threat. As soon as she saw who it was, Storm relaxed. Recognizing one of the people and taking his cue from her, Nightcrawler did as well.

"Storm," Scott greeted shortly as he approached, supporting Jean as he did.

Worried at the fact that the one who'd come into the situation healthy and free was the one needing a temporary crutch, Storm asked, "Jean, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jean responded.

A moment later she was taking on the look of concentration Storm had come to easily recognize over the years they'd worked together. She waited for several long seconds before giving in to her worry about Xavier.

"What's happening?" she asked the telepath.

"The Professor's still in there… with another mutant." Jean frowned, "He's trapped in some kind of illusion." Her eyes suddenly opened wide. "Oh my god, Magneto's reversed Cerebro. It's not targeting mutants anymore."

"Who is it targeting?" Storm asked, confused.

"Everyone else."

Considering the source, she really should have known.

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Rogue hissed in pain as a swing of Lady Deathstrike's right arm… she'd just dodged a thrust from the left one… resulted in adamantium blades raking open her left cheek. Her face bled faster than other body parts that had been pierced, stabbed or otherwise cut open in the last few minutes. Though Rogue had become less vulnerable to sharp objects when she'd absorbed Carol Danvers, it seemed adamantium was not slowed in the least by her 'invulnerability.' She wiped the blood away once her skin had closed. Her glove came away a sickening deep red instead of the white it had been. Bobby wouldn't be getting his grandmother's gloves back.

Ducking another vicious swipe at her head, Rogue dropped neatly to the floor. She kicked out hard with one leg to tumble the other woman. Lady Deathstrike went down, but was up seconds later. She was more cautious in approaching Rogue from then on. Rogue had to wonder if Stryker's mind control serum also gave the victims greater endurance, because her opponent showed no signs of slowing. She was beginning to doubt that her plan would work in time. Especially now that Lady Deathstrike was dancing back away from Rogue after nearly every attack. And Rogue's endurance was definitely wearing down. The events of the past couple days and her lack of sleep the night before were really starting to take their toll, even slowing her healing factor some.

Every so often she had to put up a small electromagnetic shield to guard her body to give it time to heal before the Asian woman could attack again. Rogue really didn't want to have the experience of re-growing a body part or organ, which is what would happen if she just let the other woman's attacks continue unabated. It wasn't just the sharpness of her opponent's nails that was giving Rogue a hard time. It was the fact that they gave Lady Deathstrike an additional foot and a half to her range. Most of the time, Rogue had to stay far enough back to avoid her attacker's lashes, which meant she wasn't close enough to utilize her super strength or the fighting skills she'd honed over the last two years. She briefly considered releasing her recently discovered claws to give her some added reach.

But her claws weren't unbreakable like Logan's. One of the inhabitants of her head, Rogue wasn't sure which one, knew that if they broke and she took them back into her body, she could wind up poisoning herself with her own bone marrow. She didn't know if her healing factor, even with the boosts she's gotten from Lady Deathstrike minutes before and Sabretooth a year ago, would be able to handle that. Logan's bones had been unbreakable for as much of his life as he could remember, so the one in her head wouldn't be any help there. And though she had never been able to fully get Sabretooth out of her head, she was not going to attempt delving into his memories just for this.

She needed _something_, however. Rogue glanced around the room as she kept most of her attention on avoiding the other woman's swipes. She was forced to dismiss almost everything she saw because of how quickly the items would be destroyed by an adamantium attack. 'Adamantium…'

Rogue's gaze darted to the tub where the indestructible metal was set to a continuous low boil.

_Do it_, Erik urged, breaking the silence in her mind that she had requested.

She was too focused on having a way to actually fight back effectively to care that any of the occupants had done so, let alone that _he_ was the one to do it.

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William Stryker wasn't sure exactly why Wolverine had been in such a hurry to get back into the underground base, but he was thankful for the reprieve. The feral superhealer had not done as thorough a job in chaining him to the helicopter as he would have if he hadn't been distracted. Though it would take some effort, Stryker was sure he'd be able to get free before Wolverine came back… if he ever did. Stryker hadn't been lying about the dam's imminent collapse and the danger to his underground base.

Just as he managed to get one arm loose, a sharp pain started in his head. A pain that had a certain edge that reminded him of dark, earlier times when he had been tortured by his own flesh and blood.

"Impossible," he screeched, his freed hand going to his temple.

The pain quickly escalated in intensity and depth. Though Stryker wanted to scream in agony, he found himself unable to do anything but suffer. Part of him was glad to know that he had been right in his theories about using Xavier to take out those the powerful telepath was forced to concentrate on, but most of him wanted whoever had turned his plan against him to die the most horrible death imaginable.

And Stryker had a pretty good idea of who was responsible. He should have had Magneto killed the moment he'd succeeded in using the metal manipulator as bait for Xavier. Stryker was definitely paying the price now for his glee in watching the mutant suffer in captivity.

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Buying herself a little time to actually manipulate the adamantium without being skewered while she was doing so, Rogue used the chains from the tank lid that Logan and Lady Deathstrike had broken during their fight to restrain her opponent. She kept some of her awareness on the other woman, but focused mainly on the vat of molten metal. Rogue considered for only a few moments before deciding on how she would use the adamantium.

With Erik and the Logan in her head both helping… Erik providing more knowledge of how to best control the metal and Logan guiding her in forming a weapon that would work for her current needs… Rogue shaped the adamantium how she wanted it. When the forms were as she pictured in her head, she dunked them both in the tank of water, needing them to cool much faster than the air was doing. With a flick of her wrist, she brought the shield and sword out of the water and to her hands.

The shield was a simple one, made for coverage without blocking her field of vision. Rogue had formed it with loops on the inner surface to slip her arm through and hold. The sword was basically a katana, which Logan was somehow familiar with the use of, but with a full hand guard to aid in protecting Rogue from Lady Deathstrike's nails. Now armed and protected, Rogue turned her full attention back on Lady Deathstrike. The other mutant had just finished freeing herself from the chains Rogue had used to restrain her.

She immediately returned to her assault on Rogue, who smirked as she blocked the first swing with her new shield. The sound of adamantium scraping against itself made her cringe, but it was certainly something she could live with much easier than constant gouges into her flesh. She was able to redirect Lady Deathstrike's other arm a second later by using the sword to parry the thrust intended to stab her just inside the shield.

Rogue countered quickly, putting the Asian woman on the defensive. Rogue didn't let up, knowing she had to keep the fight at the highest level of intensity possible without killing the other woman.

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Nightcrawler watched as the only other grown male in the hallway lifted a hand to the side of the odd-looking visor that covered a good portion of his face.

"Everybody stand back," he said in an authoritative voice.

"Scott, no." Jean warned, "The Professor's mind is connected to Cerebro. Opening the door could kill him and everyone his mind is linked to."

"Wait," Storm added her caution before turning to look at him. "Kurt, I need your help."

"Storm, who is this guy?" Instead of waiting for an answer, Scott turned toward him, "Who are you?"

Nightcrawler launched into his usual introduction, "My name is Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich Circus…"

He was cut off when Storm's fingers lightly pressed against his lips. He stilled completely, not used to people choosing to touch him. Certainly not such a beautifully formed woman.

"He's a teleporter," Storm informed Scott before turning imploring eyes back on the dark blue mutant.

Nightcrawler, recognizing what she wanted from the fact that she had explained him simply by his power, reluctantly reminded her, "I told you. If I can't see where I'm going…"

Storm's gaze and voice were soft, "I have faith in you."

Nightcrawler stared at Storm for long moments.

Jean must have read his decision to try even as he made it… a notion that made him very uncomfortable after what had happened the night before… because a moment later she was warning, "Don't believe anything you see in there."

Nightcrawler opened his arms and began to pray, "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." He continued as Storm stepped into his embrace and wrapped her own arms around him. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth," he phased out, concentrating with all his might on only traveling a few feet into the room, "as it is in heaven."

Looking around the new room in awe of what he'd accomplished, Nightcrawler barely felt it when Storm pulled away from him.

A little girl stood several feet in front of them in a disturbingly translucent nightgown, "Hello. What are you looking for?"

Storm ignored the child, looking around the room some more, "Professor, can you hear me? You've got to stop Cerebro now."

The little girl frowned, "Who are you talking to?"

Nightcrawler took a step forward, but Storm put out a blocking arm. "No, don't move."

"But she's just a little girl," Nightcrawler countered, his tail swinging behind his shoulder.

"No," Storm said firmly. "She's not."

Nightcrawler felt a shiver run up his spine when the child smiled oddly and said in a disturbing singsong voice, "I've got my eyes on you."

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Mystique had to pick up her pace several times as she followed Magneto through and out of Stryker's compound. She'd told him which way to go since she had been the one to memorize the layout, but had left it to him to lead once more. This time, though, it wasn't his ego that she was pandering to, but rather her own need to make contact with Rogue.

She knew her daughter was still mad about what she'd learned the night before, but she didn't think it was why Rogue hadn't been answering Mystique's attempts at telepathic conversation. Mystique was pretty sure her attempts were getting through, but all she was getting back was a sense of urgency and concentration. Whatever Rogue was doing, it was holding most, if not all, of her attention.

The cold wetness of the outside air snapped Mystique out of her thoughts and she fought to hide the resulting grimace and shiver as she and Magneto left the compound by a small, rear door. They trudged over the icy terrain with no words… until they came close enough to a waiting black helicopter to see an interesting addition to its front wheel.

"Mr. Stryker," Magneto greeted, his voice loud after the relative silence of their strategic withdrawal. "Funny, we keep running into each other." He sneered as he continued, "Mark my words, it'll never happen again."

Magneto manipulated the chains holding Stryker loosely in place until the man was wrapped in the metal but no longer an impediment to their flight. The Master of Magnetism stalked off toward the ruins near the back exit, Stryker's eerily floating body a few feet ahead of him. Mystique stayed with the helicopter, inspecting the puncture marks that were a sure sign of just who had trapped Stryker there to make sure the Wolverine hadn't damaged the helicopter too badly. He hadn't, and Mystique climbed into the vehicle, starting the pre-flight sequences.

Short minutes later, Magneto was beside her, tucking his cape in around himself so that it would not hinder her operation of the helicopter controls. She had just finished pre-flight preparations when she glanced through the windshield and saw a young man standing at the tree line a few dozen feet in front of them. It was the young fire-manipulator, John… or Pyro, she supposed, taking note of Magneto's attention on the same boy. The two older mutants looked at each other before Magneto raised a hand and beckoned the youth toward them.

Once the young man was on board and they had taken off, Mystique sent one last message to her daughter, Pyro's leaving with us.Get out as soon as you can, the dam doesn't look stable.And do not, under any circumstances, sacrifice your life for any of them just because you're mad at me.

She didn't get a reply.

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Rogue didn't falter as she received her mother's goodbye message. She had ignored multiple attempts Mystique had made at contact before that, being unable to afford a moment of distraction from the fight she was in. That hadn't altered yet, and Rogue was truly beginning to fear it never would if something didn't change quickly. She had been able to get Lady Deathstrike on the defensive and had injured her many times, but it hadn't yet been enough to snap the other woman out of the serum's control. Just as Rogue had the thought, she saw an opening.

Lunging forward, Rogue drove her adamantium blade through Lady Deathstrike's chest. The Logan in her head let her know the angle at which she'd done so had caused the metal to pierce the other woman's lung and heart. She'd been able to hear it snap at least two ribs on the way, telling her that unlike the flesh and blood Logan, her opponent did not have adamantium grafted to her skeletal system despite the metal's presence on her nails. And for the first time since the fight started, there was an actual expression on the Asian woman's face.

Pain.

No matter what Rogue had done to her throughout the fight, Lady Deathstrike's face had remained blank and emotionless. Hope rising in her chest, Rogue pulled her sword out of the other woman's body and stood back. The Asian woman fell to her knees, her head bent. She made gurgling gasps as her lung repaired.

Rogue waited, watching Lady Deathstrike carefully. Once she had healed, the other woman slumped even more, soft sobs wracking her frame. Rogue edged closer cautiously. She was fairly sure Lady Deathstrike would not be able to show this much emotion if she were still under the control of Stryker's poison, but that didn't mean the Asian woman wouldn't lash out. Lady Deathstrike tilted her head up, sinking back slightly to sit up straighter. Rogue felt some of her tension melt away. Though her former opponent's eyes were bloodshot from crying, they were definitely no longer the wrong color.

Yuriko's voice was strong but quiet when she said, "I'm free."

Rogue released a relieved sigh before lowering her weapon. "Yes, you are."

"Can we leave now?" the other woman asked as Rogue set the shield she'd been using on the floor.

"Soon. We have to wait for the ones I came here with," Rogue replied.

Yuriko nodded and stayed on the floor, her gaze falling to her own hands. She would no doubt be in some form of shock for some time, and there was nothing Rogue could do about that. Yuriko had to work through what had happened to her on her own. Deciding she was truly no longer a threat, Rogue turned her attention away from the woman.

Rogue held the sword in her right hand up to examine it. She wanted to keep it but thought the others might take exception to the presence of the weapon. Not to mention that it could get awkward to carry considering she knew their exit would be a hurried one. Concentrating for what she hoped would be the last time that day on her control of metal, Rogue worked with her mind and abilities until the sword had been broken down into several flat strips of metal.

Temporarily rolling her sleeves up, she settled most of the strips in bands around her forearms before returning her sleeves to their former position. Snatching the last two from midair, Rogue turned to Yuriko. The other woman had been watching her manipulate the metal. When Rogue asked Yuriko to hold onto them for her, Yuriko slipped one into each boot.

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"Kurt, it's about to get very cold in here."

Though Storm's tone had been one of warning, Kurt could also hear the fear that was lying just beneath her confident exterior. He somehow knew that she was silently pleading for his support but was unwilling to actually ask for it a second time. She struck him as someone who needed to be in control, who felt that she wasn't giving her all if she had to rely on someone else. The trust she had placed in him after knowing him so short a time was truly amazing.

"I'm not going anywhere," he assured.

Storm was standing just to the right and a couple small steps in front of him. She raised her arms to the side and tilted her head back slightly. The pose struck him as regal, as the woman herself had during the short time he'd known her. After long moments, the temperature in the room dropped noticeably, small flecks of white appearing soon after. The air stirred as a sudden wind picked up, plunging the room into blizzard-like conditions. It was one of the most unique experiences he'd ever had, an indoor snow storm.

Kurt shivered and hunched to conserve heat, but stood his ground. In front of them the strange little girl that really wasn't was looking around frantically, fright overtaking her odd features.

"What are you doing?" she screamed.

It made Kurt flinch. It was in his nature to help anyone in need, especially the young and innocent. He had to remind himself firmly that she wasn't real, which meant she wasn't truly young or innocent.

The little girl screeched as Storm continued her onslaught. "Stop it!"

Seconds later, the little girl was gone and there were two men in wheelchairs in front of them. The illusion had broken. Storm ceased her weather machinations and took a tentative step forward. She stopped for a moment when the building started to shake violently, then ran, dragging Kurt with her. When they reached the second man, bald and wearing a suit, Storm threw her arms around him. Sensing the urgency of the still-shaking room, Kurt wrapped himself around as much of the two of them as he could reach and teleported them out of the room.

He didn't come back for the other man. He had seen in his last second in the room that part of the ceiling had collapsed, likely wiping out the entire structure on which they had been standing.

With Storm on one side of the handicapped man and Nightcrawler on the other, the group began making their way back to where they'd entered the building as quickly as they could.

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Logan raced back into Stryker's base and toward the room they'd first come into through the spillway entrance. The Wolverine was screaming at him to go get Marie first and get her out, but the logical part of Logan knew it couldn't be that simple. The X-Men would head for the spillway in order to get back to the Blackbird. And if they did, they would drown. Marie, if she had stayed where he'd left her, was further back in the structure relative to the dam and would be safe longer but not forever.

He reached the first main room they'd been in just as the group was rushing up the ramp that led to the spillway. If the situation hadn't been so serious, he would have laughed at the irony of Magneto's derisive words in the jet earlier. Instead, he simply slammed his claws into the metal box that held the controls for the massive door, breathing a sigh of relief when it closed. The mutants at the head of the running group were mere feet from it. They all turned to look at him, shock and fear on most of their faces.

Retracting his claws, Logan called out, "You don't want to go that way. Trust me."

Water started shooting out of the still-closing door, causing the group to stumble back a bit in surprise. A secondary door started closing over the first one, but the water was still managing to shoot through the crack a few gallons at a time.

"Come on," he urged when the X-Men and their students simply stayed where they were. "There's another way out of here."

That spurred them into action, and they followed him as he led the way through the hallways, gesturing for them to wait in the main corridor as he turned into the shorter one that led down into the room where he'd left Marie. She met him part way, leading the woman he'd almost killed up the stairs out of the lab. The Asian woman looked up at him first, but her eyes… now a natural deep brown… looked right through him.

Marie lifted her gaze to him a moment later. She looked exhausted but content. Logan reached out automatically to caress and grip her arm, helping her up the last step despite the fact that she didn't need it.

"Careful," she cautioned with a wry, tired smirk. "My uniform has been ventilated."

Logan's gaze swept over her body, noting each hole and gash in the fabric. Anger bubbled in him that she'd had to go through the attacks that had created them. At the same time pride swelled that she cared enough about an innocent stranger to do so and that she had the skill and perseverance to get through it. Part of him would have given a lot to see her fight, though he knew he would not have been able to just stand back and watch her get hurt. He was relieved when he saw that though there was blood decorating the edges of most of the holes in her uniform, the skin beneath was already completely healed. His fingers itched to find one of those holes, tear it open and start exploring, but that was a bad idea for too many reasons.

"She okay to walk on her own?" he asked with a jerk of his head toward the woman with the adamantium fingernails. When Marie nodded, he urged, "We need to get moving. This place is going to be underwater soon."

She nodded once more, and they joined the others in the hall. All together again, they stepped up their pace to leave the base, spilling out into the cold air and frozen ground with gasps of relief. Logan's was short-lived. He had scooped up one of the children, a boy with dark hair and no shoes, and ran up the short rise that hid the landing pad from immediate view. When he reached the top, he nearly dropped the kid in shock.

"The helicopter was right here!" he raged.

He glanced at the others to see them staring blankly at the empty helipad, except for Marie. She was frowning and staring off into the trees. Logan followed her line of sight, starting slightly when the Blackbird suddenly swooped sideways just over the trees. He cringed at the obvious amateur flying job and braced himself not to jump when the jet came in for something too close to a crash-landing to be considered graceful.

Frankly he was surprised Bobby or John, whichever of them was flying, had even managed that. Until he looked at Marie again to see her hand dropping from a position that would have been aimed at the Blackbird. She turned her head just then and caught him watching her. He gave her a small smile in the moment of stillness before the others moved back into action. The ramp at the rear of the jet lowered and the kids started for it.

Nightcrawler, who had been helping Storm carry Xavier, wrapped his arms around the handicapped man. "I'll take him."

The blue mutant and the Professor disappeared from view with a puff of sulfur-scented smoke. Storm began to jog toward the jet, and Scott aided a limping Jean in moving as quickly as she could to follow. Logan started for the Blackbird but slowed as he scented the air. He could still smell Stryker close by. Pivoting, he moved away from the jet toward the woods where he knew the ruins he'd visited a few weeks ago stood. He was dimly aware that Marie followed.

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Jean watched as Rogue went after Logan instead of entering the jet. She knew they'd both come back, especially since Logan was still carrying Artie. But she also acknowledged that where one would go in life, the other was likely to follow. The connection the two had shared even from the brief time before the X-Men had intervened in their lives had not lessened in their time apart. In fact, it seemed to have strengthened, the feelings behind it intensifying for each of them, though Rogue seemed to be trying to beat those feelings into submission. Jean didn't try to find the reason why, uncomfortable enough with the fact that she couldn't _stop_ reading everyone around her on a deeper-than-normal level.

Though Jean had her own connection with Scott, she couldn't help feeling a bit jealous of the strength of the one between the other two mutants. Especially when she considered the fact that it had been there even before Rogue had become part telepath. Jean and Scott had started out as acquaintances, their own age difference making her embarrassed and a bit annoyed at the young boy's obvious crush on her. Once he'd grown up and the difference in their ages didn't matter so much, they'd been friends for a long time before she had realized that Scott still cared for her as more than a friend. It had taken a long time for their love to be mutual and acknowledged. And there were still occasions when she caught herself wondering what it would be like with someone else. Rogue and Logan, on the other hand, already loved each other exclusively. But for some reason neither one of them had told the other. She supposed the fact they had rarely been together for more than a few minutes uninterrupted had a lot to do with it.

Part of her was sorry for what she had done with Logan last night, but the burning energy that was ever more quickly taking her over relished the memory. It seemed to enjoy extremes, especially new ones. And the Wolverine was a study in extremes. With a guilty start, Jean realized why Rogue had stopped being optimistic about her future with the feral mutant: she had seen Logan and Jean and believed the worst.

Jean's attention was drawn away from her thoughts about the pair when Scott's worry switched focus from her to the teenager still sitting frozen in shock in the pilot's seat of the Blackbird. Storm was trying to reassure Bobby, prying his hands from the controls as gently as possible. None of them would know until they could run a diagnostic what damage might have been done by the untrained pilot's abrupt but necessary flight. Scott was worried that it might have been enough to stop them from making a timely escape.

"Go," Jean told Scott. "I'll be fine."

Scott frowned, his forehead wrinkling in concern above his visor. "You sure?"

It hurt her to lie to him when she knew how much he would eventually blame himself for, but it needed to be done. "Yeah."

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Logan stalked through the snow to where Stryker had been chained, very obviously put there by Magneto. From the hints Magneto had dropped at the campfire the night before, he knew the other mutant had good reason to hate the human too. And Magneto's reasons were recent and remembered. He was actually surprised Magneto had left Stryker alive. Logan braced himself for facing the man who might be the only key to his past one last time.

"Who has the answers, Wolverine?" Stryker ranted as he got closer. "Those people? That creature in your arms?" Logan and the boy glanced at each other. "Huh? Huh?"

Logan set the boy he had been carrying on his own feet. Pulling the chain out from inside the neck of his X-Men uniform, Logan yanked off his tag and tossed it at Stryker. He picked the boy back up and studied him for a moment. Though the very young adolescent was shivering from the cold, his gaze was calm and trusting as it held Logan's. Truth was the boy didn't mean anything to Logan; he was just a symbol of a choice. A choice that was shockingly easy to make considering how long he'd been searching. But then, he had something now that he wanted to hold onto with everything in him, and he couldn't if he didn't stop dwelling on a past he might never remember. He'd already been away from her too long.

"I'll take my chances with him," Logan announced calmly.

"One day, someone will finish what I started, Wolverine!" Stryker screeched, desperation echoing in every word. "One day!" The boy in Logan's arms stuck out his forked tongue as Stryker continued to yell, "One day!"

Logan turned his back on the human, on discovering the part of his past that was tied to the madman. A few feet away, Marie was waiting with a guarded expression. She was close enough to have heard what Stryker said even without the aid of the heightened senses she'd gotten from him so long ago. The expression on her face made it obvious that she had indeed been listening.

"Do you want me to…" she trailed off, lifting a hand silently.

Logan immediately knew what she meant. He was touched that she would consider having that monster in her head just for him to get information, but he couldn't accept. Couldn't let her be tainted by the pure hate that was the only thing that drove Stryker. If he could help it, nothing from his past would ever hurt her.

"No, darlin'. He doesn't have anything I want. Let's go."

Marie gave him a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. Logan brushed it aside as being due to all the stress and tiring activity they'd been through in the past two days. They trudged over the snow side by side, Marie matching his passenger-induced slower-than-normal stride, until they were a few feet from the Blackbird. Marie then quickened her pace, ushering the still zoned-out Asian woman waiting at the bottom of the ramp into the jet just ahead of Logan and the boy he carried.

As he climbed the ramp, Logan glanced toward the front, noting that Scott and Storm appeared to be in the middle of starting the aircraft. He barely caught Xavier saying, "Scott, we've got to get to Washington. I fear this has gone beyond Alkali Lake."

Feeling useless holding the boy in his arms but not sure what to do with him, Logan turned to the nearest person for assistance. "Bobby."

"I got him," the teenager replied distractedly as he took the younger mutant from Logan and started buckling him in on one of the bench seats in the back.

"You okay?" Jean asked as Logan's sweeping gaze moved past her.

Logan glanced over to where Rogue was helping the Asian woman they'd both fought find a seat. One of the rescued students, a teenage boy with blue hair who was obviously at least a few years younger than her, hugged her a moment later. A small smile tugged at Logan's lips.

"I am now."

Noticing a commotion at the front of the jet, Logan walked up to just behind the pilot and co-pilot seats to see what was going on.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he realized it shouldn't be taking this long to get the Blackbird airborne.

Scott responded in a harried voice. "Vertical thrusters are offline."

That seemed like it would only be a problem if they needed to hover instead of taking off and getting the hell out of here. But if it was making Scott sound and smell that nervous, they must be important for something else as well.

Logan demanded, "Fix 'em."

"I'm trying," Scott said back.

There was so much panic in his voice that there was no hint of the usual anger that appeared anytime Scott addressed him.

Footsteps reached Logan's ears just before Bobby asked, "Has anyone seen John?"

"Pyro?"

Logan glanced back to do a quick visual headcount. He didn't see the headstrong boy among the others. His gaze locked with Marie's. She was standing a few feet from Jean, both women nearer the rear of the jet than the front. Something… a feeling in the air… was making him fidget, and Logan wondered if it was just the missing boy and the disabled jet or if something else was wrong.

"Where the hell is he?" he said more to himself than anything.

A dark look passed over Rogue's features as she answered, "He went with Magneto."

Logan decided that must be the off feeling, barely pausing to wonder how Marie had known what happened to the other teen. Bobby slumped slightly and dejectedly went to find a seat. Behind Logan, Storm evidently had a little bit of success, and he turned his attention back to the two X-Men trying to secure their safe escape.

"They're functioning," Storm said. "But I don't know how long they're going to last."

A beep sounded and Scott muttered, clearly frustrated, "Uh, come on!"

"Oh no, we've lost power," Storm said unnecessarily as the lights on the jets controls had very obviously flickered off again.

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Rogue flinched when the booming and then rushing water sounds of the dam breaking reached her ears. She was just about to offer giving the jet a "push" with her control over metal when a fierce burning inside her cut off all thoughts of the outside world. She was dimly aware of Jean just a few feet from her, straightening and turning to look over her shoulder at the others in the front of the jet. Without truly meaning to, Rogue read what Jean meant to do.

No!

It wasn't for herself or even for Jean that Rogue attempted to change the other woman's mind. It was for Scott, Xavier and Logan, three men who loved the telekinetic telepath and would be devastated at her loss. A second later, tremendous heat lashed back at her, sending her mentally reeling.

The next thing she knew, she was on the astral plane. She glanced up, and her eyes widened as she took in the image of Jean before her. Instead of the short-haired, leather clad woman in the jet, there was a longer haired, dark red suited creature. The figure was barely recognizable as Jean and was backlit by a stylized bird of raging orange and red fire. Rogue could feel the fire pushing and pulling at her, the small part of Jean that was still in her from two years ago doing the same thing in tandem.

"You cannot stop us," the being said to her.

Its voice was a combination of Jean's and something darker, deeper and older.

Rogue shook her head, "Don't do this to them."

"It must be done. For them."

"I don't believe you," Rogue snarled.

The creature that was Jean but also wasn't lowered itself so that it was standing on an even level with Rogue. Instinct and her own less than warm feelings toward Jean urged her to back away, but she swallowed hard and stood her ground. This wasn't about her. And the feelings and emotions that washed over her in the next moment weren't hers either.

Lust, greed, fear and hunger. A hunger that burned and threatened to consume everything in its path. The evolution of Jean's powers, begun on Liberty Island when the telekinetic telepath had been saturated by the effects of Rogue's time in Magneto's machine, was in danger of becoming out of control. The fear was Jean's; everything else belonged to the entity sharing her body and mind.

Jean had already lost parts of herself to it, and she was afraid of being taken over completely. It was a fact Jean had been able to hide from everyone, including Xavier and Scott, the two people closest to her. But Scott had started to notice more and more lately that something was wrong, and Jean was afraid this force taking her over… something she'd dubbed the Phoenix… would hurt him if he tried to stop or help her.

When Jean reached her, she cupped Rogue's face. Rogue barely managed to not pull away. Her skin wasn't an issue on the astral plane, but it wasn't something she was used to. For just a moment, the figure opposite her was simply Jean.

"I can't do this anymore," she said brokenly. "And this way my death will have some meaning."

When Jean removed her hands from Rogue's head, the resulting sensation shook her to her marrow. The drawing feeling was similar to what the occupants of her head had felt when she'd touched them in the physical world. Jean was taking the part of herself that was still in Rogue out. When it was done, Rogue staggered slightly, noting that Jean was again the Phoenix creature.

"We will let you go when we are done," it told her.

Though they then left the astral plane… only scant seconds having passed in real time… Rogue found herself unable to move. That must be what the Phoenix had meant. She watched, resigned to what she could not change, as Jean hobbled out of the jet.

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"Jean?"

Thinking Xavier needed the doctor for something, Logan turned back to call her forward. He frowned when he saw she wasn't where she'd been. And was it just a trick of the lighting, or was Marie a lot paler than she should be? Other than that, she looked the same as she had moments ago, so he turned his attention momentarily back to his task.

"Wait," he said to no one in particular. "Where _is_ Jean?"

Xavier's voice seemed further away than it should when he answered, "She's outside."

Scott shot up out of his seat and shoved past Logan to head for the back of the jet, but the ramp leading to outside closed before he could reach it. A second later, the Blackbird suddenly turned on.

"No, we're not leaving!" Scott yelled, his head whipping back to the front so fast Logan was surprised it didn't snap right off his neck. "Lower the ramp! Storm, lower it!"

Storm's reply was panicked, "I can't." A second later she added, "She's controlling the jet."

Sure enough, the power stayed on and various switches and controls moved on their own. Logan felt the barely perceptible shift of the floor under his feet as the Blackbird lifted off the ground. Scott looked completely lost, so Logan took charge. He leaned forward to look out of the front windshield, noting that Jean was holding back the water that would have crushed the jet as she faced them, an intense look of concentration in her eyes. It must have been a trick of the mist from the water, but it almost looked like she was on fire, that her eyes were glowing an unnatural color.

He turned to Nightcrawler, "You, get her now."

Logan watched the dark blue mutant close his eyes and disappear in a puff of dark smoke. But he only disappeared for a split second. Anyone with lesser senses wouldn't have even seen him leave.

"She's not letting me," Nightcrawler said in a sad tone.

Scott made a sound of despair before yelling again. "Damn it!"

"I know what I'm doing," Xavier's voice broke through the tension. It sounded off, more feminine than usual. "This is the only way."

"Jean, listen to me," Scott pled as he stumbled over to Xavier. "Don't do this."

Logan felt the skin on the back of his neck prickle with unease as an odd smile curved Xavier's lips. "Goodbye."

"No," Scott cried, shaking Xavier by his grip on the older man's lapels, "no."

Turning his gaze to the window again, Logan watched as Jean dropped both of her arms, facing the wall of water that soon swallowed her whole. He flinched. With his nightmares about the tank he'd been submerged in when they cut him open, drowning was on top of his list of ways to avoid dying. Though he supposed the weight and force of the water would have crushed her before drowning could do its damage.

"She's gone," he announced so the others wouldn't look for her.

Scott's voice trembled as he immediately responded. "Don't you say that! We gotta go back."

The X-Men team leader stood up and faced Logan. He was shaking, and Logan realized on top of denial, Scott was most likely going into shock.

"She's gone," Logan said again, more firmly this time.

"No, no."

Logan hurt internally as Scott broke down, using him as physical support. He didn't try to pull away from the younger man, in fact he made sure that the occasional flail of an arm or leg didn't hit anything that would hurt Scott. He had some small inkling of what the other man was going through from his own experiences with nearly losing Marie; two years ago on the Statue of Liberty; yesterday when the jet had been hit and she had been sucked out. His dislike for Scott meant nothing next to that knowledge.

As Logan awkwardly held the now-sobbing Scott, Storm turned the Blackbird south, and Nightcrawler began praying, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want…"

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Rogue was shaking when Jean let her go as she released the water and her control of the jet. Rogue locked onto the jet with her own powers immediately to keep it from falling. Feeling out the loose connections that had caused Storm and Scott to not be able to get the Blackbird going, she fixed them quickly. Jean hadn't been able to get to them all with her telekinesis before letting the water take her.

Though Jean had taken the power that had originally come from her, Rogue was strangely not any more tired or worn down than she had been before their astral meeting. Her shaking was due to her anger. For some reason the others had not thought to ask Rogue to stop Jean, but when they thought back on it, they might blame her. She would already have to deal with so many other issues that adding something this big was sure to make her life impossible to sort out. She didn't need that. As Scott broke down in the front, Rogue caught Decipher hesitantly standing.

Realizing what he intended, she walked quietly the few steps to his side and set a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her, nodding when she shook her head slowly. Decipher sat back down, a small sigh escaping as he did. With his ability to breathe underwater, he would have been a logical choice to retrieve Jean's body. But Rogue knew that wasn't what Jean had wanted. That wasn't the only reason she stopped him, though. Despite spending time imprisoned by mutant-hating humans, Decipher had not seen much death firsthand. He didn't need to see whatever was left of Jean.

Finally able to give in to at least her physical exhaustion for a few minutes, Rogue moved to the back of the jet and sank back in the seat next to Yuriko. The other woman was staring at her own fingers in confusion again. Rogue could only assume that meant that the adamantium bonding process had occurred after Yuriko was already under Stryker's control. She seemed completely oblivious to the drama that had just played out. Rogue couldn't really blame her, she had lost years of her life and then woken to a strange place and people she didn't know.

"Why…" the Asian woman paused before speaking again, though she trailed off once more a short time later. "I went to him for his help in finding my father. How could he…"

"You were one of his weapons," Rogue said softly. "It was the only use he had for a living mutant."

A single tear escaped to roll down Yuriko's cheek, and she said almost too softly for even Rogue to hear, "I want to go home to Japan."

"I'm sure Xavier can arrange that for you once he's spoken with the President about what Stryker was doing," she soothed.

Yuriko nodded slightly and resumed staring at her fingers.

Sure that the woman also known as Lady Deathstrike would be okay for the time being and realizing she needed to know what exactly Xavier had planned for their trip to the capitol, Rogue made her way forward in the jet. She was careful to avoid Logan and the openly grieving Scott. She squatted beside Xavier's seat and gently touched his arm. Xavier blinked before turning to look at her.

"Are we going straight to Washington?" Rogue asked.

"No," he answered. "We'll need Kitty in order to get Stryker's files quickly enough."

Rogue glanced at Storm in the pilot's seat. The weather witch frowned and opened her mouth, but Rogue shook her head as she stood.

"Just head to the school," she instructed Storm.

Rogue knew Storm was worried about the time it would take to track down where the children ended up, especially since Cerebro was no longer working. But Rogue couldn't bring herself to tell Storm that there was no need to worry about that. As one of the X-Men, Storm was sure to be upset if she found out where the children had been taken for safety and by whose direction they'd ended up there.

As she made her way back through the jet, Rogue lay a sympathetic, gloved hand first on Scott's shoulder, who took no apparent notice of the touch in his grief, and then on Logan's arm where he was leaning heavily on the back of seat he'd managed to maneuver Scott into. Unlike the other man, Logan did react to the gesture, pulling Rogue into his embrace. Rogue hugged him back briefly, her heart aching for the pain he was feeling. And, she was somewhat ashamed to admit, because he felt that loss over someone else.

"I'm so sorry you lost her," Rogue said gently, keeping her voice low so as not to make Scott feel worse with the thought that Jean had not been his alone.

She extracted herself from Logan's firm grip. He didn't seem to notice how much strength she had to use to get loose.

"Would you ever do something like that?" he asked in a strained voice. "Leave everyone who cared about you?"

Rogue had never thought Jean was the suicidal type, but it was what Jean's choice amounted to. If Jean could control the Blackbird from outside and hold back the water at the same time, she could just as easily have held back the water and fixed the jet from inside where she would have stayed alive and well with the people who cared about her. With what Rogue knew about Jean's evolving powers, part of her understood the other woman's choice, but the bigger part knew Jean had loved ones who would have moved heaven and earth to help her if she'd only given them the chance.

"Not like that," Rogue answered honestly, her voice low enough that only Logan would hear her. "Not when there was another way to save everyone."

Not wanting to dwell on the other woman when there were things she needed to do, Rogue moved past Logan and sat back down.

When they were closer to New York, she took a deep breath and released it slowly.

Piotr, can you hear me? Receiving a faint but affirmative answer, she concentrated a bit harder, We're on our way back to the mansion and we need Kitty.Send Pietro and Wanda to pick up the school's vans and bring them back to you, then make sure everyone gets home.We should be there in about twenty minutes.

Mentally as well as physically exhausted, Rogue was unable to wait for a reply. She could only hope that Magneto had not gotten back to the Brotherhood House yet, or if he had, that he wouldn't care that the children now leaving had been there on her authority. On the other hand, if he did try anything, it would give her the excuse she needed to go after him. She just hoped her mother didn't get in the way.

_Her mother_. The knowledge she had so recently gained… though last night felt more like a lifetime ago then the less than two dozen hours that had actually passed… again tried to press forward, but Rogue ruthlessly blocked it. She was not ready to deal with the world-shattering things she had unintentionally learned when she touched Mystique. Truthfully, she doubted she would ever truly be ready, but Rogue knew she couldn't handle falling apart over it right now. Not in front of the X-Men, not in front of those grieving so heavily the loss of Jean Grey, not when they still had a mission to complete… and not while Logan was close enough for her to want to turn to him for comfort.

She couldn't. She wouldn't.

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"Storm, please take the children into the school and tell Piotr we'll need him to continue watching all of them a bit longer." They had just set the Blackbird down in the hangar… which thankfully had not been damaged in any way during the invasion of the school… and Xavier was giving everyone tasks so they could get airborne again as quickly as possible. "Logan, would you please assist Nightcrawler in retrieving one of my wheelchairs? They are in the largest closet in the medical room. You can lead our guest there for now as well."

Logan grunted, "Sure, Chuck."

Storm had already left with the children, Bobby trailing behind. Logan led Yuriko and Kurt out of the hangar, glancing back at Rogue once. She ignored it and waited until he was out of the jet and the hangar before heading for the exit herself. She would check on Decipher, Conchita and Piotr before figuring out where she could possibly go and how she would get her things from the place she could no longer call home. Xavier's voice stopped her from getting too far.

"Rogue, I'd like you to come with us."

When she hesitated, Xavier spoke again, "After everything you did to help, it's only fair that you should know first hand what the President decides."

"Alright," she said softly. She hesitated for another moment before turning toward him and adding, "I think you should ask Bobby to come as well."

Xavier's eyebrows lifted in question.

"He's lost his best friend to the other side and his family has as good as disowned him now that they know he's a mutant," Rogue explained. After John's defection to Magneto's side, she had taken the liberty of checking on Bobby's state of mind, knowing no one else would have bothered in the chaos. "And even though it wasn't his fault, he feels badly about what happened with the jet and Jean. Being treated as an adult and part of the X-Men will help him, give him a point to focus on so that he can begin the process of healing and moving on."

Xavier nodded, "I agree. I've called him to me. I'd appreciate it if you'd wear one of our uniforms instead of yours, help present more of a united front to the President. Not to mention that the tears and blood now decorating your outfit would probably send the wrong message."

"I understand your reasoning," Rogue answered, "but I can just put my street clothes back on. Neither Storm nor…" she trailed off when she realized Scott was still in his seat less than fifteen feet away. "None of the extra suits would fit me."

The powerfully psychic man in front of her had the grace to look slightly uncomfortable as he admitted, "It was always my hope that you might choose to come back and join us. I had a uniform made for you. Bobby and the other seniors were supposed to receive theirs as a graduation present in a few months but they _are_ already here at the Institute, so Bobby will be able to wear his. You'll find yours in the women's changing room on this level. I believe Kitty will be waiting for you there."

"All right."

Rogue walked quickly to the designated place, fighting to stop her exhaustion from taking hold. When this was all over, she was going to crash hard. She just hoped she'd have a place to do so when the time came. She entered the dressing room to find a nervous-looking Kitty facing the door that led to the Blackbird's hangar.

"Can't I just give my power to you?" the younger mutant asked when she saw Rogue. "I'm not sure I can do this."

Instead of answering right away, Rogue went to the section of the wall where the extra uniforms were kept. She sorted through them until she found a garment bag with her name under a logo of a circle around an X. It felt wrong that Xavier had presumed that she would be a member of his X-Men, especially after they had accused her of being part of the Brotherhood more than once, but now wasn't the time to be getting upset about it. She opened the garment bag to see a pair of boots had been attached to the hangar as well as the uniform. Setting the boots on the floor next to the nearest bench, she took a moment to examine the design Xavier had chosen for her.

Despite the fact that it had been made for her, it was remarkably similar to Jean and Storm's uniforms… without Storm's cape of course. Although the piping on Storm's was silver, red on Jean's, on Rogue's it was simply black. The shoulders, elbows and knees were reinforced and the torso had a built in corset-style top. A high collar with the X-Men's insignia on either side completed the outfit. Rogue took it off the hanger and set it on the bench, turning her attention to peeling off her ruined uniform. She'd have to get Forge to make her another backup suit; the one that had been her backup would now have to be her regular one. If she could even get to it.

"I'm afraid I can't take your power," she finally replied to Kitty's suggestion. "It takes me awhile to adjust to most new powers, especially ones as active and physically altering as yours. We don't have time to risk something going wrong."

Kitty nodded her understanding, shrinking into herself slightly. When Rogue had shimmied into the a-bit-too-snug leather and zipped up the front of her temporary uniform… leaving the adamantium bands in place on her forearms in case she had need of them… she pulled on the gloves that had been attached to one of the sleeves. Now that it was safe, Rogue put a gloved hand on the younger girl's shoulder, squeezing comfortingly.

"If you want me to, I'll go with you."

"Really?" Kitty asked with wide eyes. A shy smile touched her lips. "Thank you, Rogue. Not just for this, but for everything you did when the mansion was attacked and going to get the others back. If I had been treated like you have been by the X-Men, I might not have been willing to risk myself for them."

"I didn't do it for them," Rogue answered honestly, reaching for the first boot to put on.

Kitty nodded. "I know. You did it for Decipher, Jubes and the other kids. It doesn't make what you did any less important or heroic."

Rogue smiled tightly and pulled on the second of the two provided boots. She stood and glanced in the nearest mirror. She looked like a cross between a biker and a dominatrix. The random, irreverent thought oddly broke some of the tension of the day. Rolling her eyes at herself, Rogue headed for the door to the hangar, motioning for Kitty to follow her.

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Though Kitty had been jumpy the entire time, breaking into Stryker's office went smoothly. Rogue was able to find the files they needed quickly because of her brief absorption of Lady Deathstrike during their fight. Breaking into the White House after was ridiculously easy, though Rogue was sure it was putting at least some strain on Xavier. He had frozen the occupants of the building as well as the perimeter guards before Scott and Storm set the Blackbird down on the back lawn. Kurt had then teleported everyone into the Oval Office, one to two people at a time. Kitty had remained with the jet.

Rogue had chosen to stand near Scott, who had been silent and withdrawn since they left Alkali Lake. If he needed someone to lean on, she would be there for him as he had been for her when Logan had left two years ago.

There were a lot of people in the room with the President. They'd come just in time to stop him from making a speech about the attack from the second Cerebro. Rogue could only hope what they had to show him would make him change the content of that speech.

"Good evening, Mister President," Xavier greeted as he unfroze the man.

The President looked around the room in shock at the perfectly still humans and sudden increase of other people. When he saw Nightcrawler across the room on the mantle he froze, more than a hint of fear showing in his eyes, and stood abruptly from his chair. Rogue flinched. They probably shouldn't have let Nightcrawler stay in the room once Xavier had unfrozen the President, given the history there.

"Please," Xavier told him calmly, "don't be alarmed. We're not going to harm anyone."

"Who are you people?" the President demanded.

"We're mutants. My name is Charles Xavier. Please, sit down."

The President's frown deepened, "I'd rather stand."

Nodding acquiescence, Xavier said simply, "Rogue."

At Xavier's cue, Rogue stepped forward and slid a blue file folder onto the surface of the President's desk. It suddenly struck her that she was standing in the oval office, having an unapproved face to face with the leader of the free world. This was all so surreal. But she was able to keep her focus, knowing what a turning point this could be in the history of human-mutant relations. If Stryker's part in what had happened was not exposed, Rogue had no doubt mutants would be rounded up and kept in places just as bad as the camps that still haunted Magneto's dreams, and hers.

"These files were taken from the private offices of William Stryker," Xavier intoned as the President glanced over the first couple pages.

"How did you get this?" he asked after a few moments, his brow furrowed.

"Well," Xavier replied. "Let's just say I know a girl who can walk through walls."

President looked back down at the file and finally took a seat. "I've never seen this information."

"I know," Xavier responded.

"Then you also know I don't respond well to threats."

"Mister President, this is not a threat," Xavier said firmly. "This is an opportunity. There are forces in this world, both mutant and human alike, who believe that a war is coming. You will see from those files that some have already tried to start one, and there have been casualties. Losses on both sides. Mister President, what you are about to tell the world," Xavier rolled forward to press his point home, "is true… this is a moment. A moment to repeat the mistakes of the past or to work together for a better future. We're here to stay, Mister President. The next move is yours."

"We'll be watching," Logan added in the final moments before Xavier would once again "freeze" the room's occupants… including the President… so that the X-Men could leave without having to fight their way out.

Rogue almost laughed. It was so like him to need to put in the last word, and for it to be a threat.

_**To be continued…**_

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**Author's Note 2:** As mentioned in the first author's note at the top of the page, this wraps up my version of X2. You may have noticed I did not do the office scene with Xavier, Scott and Logan. I felt it didn't fit my version and that it didn't really make sense for Xavier to be talking to the two of them long enough after the fact for the students to be coming in for a class with him. The next chapter will cover my version of the return to the mansion, and maybe the few days following.

A couple people have, over time, requested that I make Rogue and Jean switch places (aka Rogue "die" for the team and then come back as the Phoenix). Obviously I did not do that. Although I like that idea, it didn't fit my story. There are at least a couple stories on FFN that do follow that plot though, so I encourage you to look for them if that was what you were interested in. Also, you may have noticed I wasn't _as_ anti-Jean in this chapter as I have been in the past. I will never be a Jean Grey fan, I've hated her since the early 90s cartoon, but I'm trying to cut back on the bashing, heh.

Now, on a more important note, I have created a poll for this story on my profile page. Keep in mind that if the shorter chapter option is chosen, I will likely be able to get new chapters out quicker. Mind you, I said likely, writer's block and my rather busy real life often take more time than I think they will. Please vote on the poll and not in reviews, thanks. That doesn't mean I don't want reviews on this chapter, though, lol! Be sure to tell me what you thought of this chapter.


	26. Chapter 26

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** When I closed it, the poll was a 17 to 14 vote in favor of shorter, quicker chapters. Unfortunately I've been rather busy at work after being very sick for awhile and didn't have the time or energy to really do anything else… and more recently I've been taking care of my youngest brother while my parents are away and was then away myself for my other brother's graduation from UCSB… so since there was quite a wait, this chapter is still rather long. The next will not be as long (nor will you have to wait as long for it) in honor of the poll results. Though I can't make any promises, I hope to update once every week to ten days with the shorter chapter way of doing things.

As an aside, I thought it was pretty funny that one of the fonts in the version of Word at my work is called Magneto. Why yes, I am easily amused.

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On the flight back to the mansion from the capitol, Rogue sank into the seat beside Kitty's and gave in to the need to shut her eyes. She didn't go to sleep, however. For one thing, her temporary uniform was too stiff and uncomfortable to allow it.

_Told ya_, her Inner Logan announced suddenly.

Rogue's throat tightened when Erik pitched in.

_Are you all right now, my dear?_

'We're all out of immediate danger,' she hedged.

_Darlin', that ain't what he asked_, Logan dropped the lighter tone he'd had just moments before.

Rogue knew he had avoided being serious because of how tired she was… and how heartbroken she was over the real Logan's actions the previous night. Truth was, she didn't feel like talking to either of the most substantial presences in her mind right now. But they had been silent for far longer than they usually had to be simply because she had asked it. And no matter how much she wanted to lash out at them for things their physical world counterparts had done, she knew if she banished them from her mind in anger, she'd regret it later.

If she even _could_ banish them. After all, she had thought she'd gotten rid of Jean long ago but that had turned out not to be true. Had it just been because of Jean's evolving mutation… the thing that called itself the Phoenix… or had Emma lied to Rogue, somehow tricking her into no longer feeling that particular presence in her head? Rogue was going to have to have a little talk with the White Queen the next time they saw each other.

'I think you both know I'm not,' she finally replied when she could feel the two men getting agitated.

_If there is anything we can do…_ Erik trailed off.

A nonverbal grunt from her Inner Logan backed up the statement. There were things she needed to talk about with them, with _someone_, but she wasn't ready. Talking about it would make it real, and she had more than enough reality to deal with without adding what she had so recently learned from Mystique to the pile.

'I know,' she responded lightly.

Her eyes slowly opened and she stared forward to the front view screen. Though all she could see was sky, Rogue knew from a brief surface brush of Storm's mind that they were nearly back to the School. Ten minutes later they were setting down beneath the basketball court. When she stood as Storm landed the jet and began post-flight, Rogue glanced at Logan. He was standing as well and looking right at her. There was something in his gaze that told her he wanted to be next to her… touching her, talking to her… to make sure she was okay. Thankfully, there were several people between where she had been sitting in the last row and where he had been perched in the co-pilot's chair. Rogue wasn't ready to deal with being that close to him knowing what she knew.

Scott, now solemnly helping transfer Xavier from a seat to his wheelchair, had chosen to sit behind Storm instead of in his usual position as pilot. Xavier, Bobby, and Kurt had taken up the rest of the forward seats. Bobby and Kurt were standing, the dark blue mutant watching Storm and the younger man looking slightly lost. He was probably wondering what he could do to help. Kitty was standing beside Rogue, waiting for her to move so the teen could exit the row they were sitting in. Tearing her gaze from Logan's, Rogue headed for the Blackbird's exit ramp.

The moment she reached the bottom of the ramp, she was engulfed in a group hug from Conchita and Decipher. Rogue wrapped an adamantium-and-leather-clad arm around each of them and just held on for a minute. _This_ was what made everything she had gone through over the past couple of days worth it… knowing that the people she cared about were once more safe.

"Piotr wanted to come down too, but some of the younger kids are still too scared to be without him," Decipher told her as they let go and the three of them began walking out of the hangar.

Rogue smiled to show she appreciated the message but didn't respond out loud, not wanting to talk about personal things in hearing range of the others.

With Rogue and the twins leading the way, the entire entourage headed into the school proper and to the room where the rest of the school's inhabitants were gathered. There was one stop along the way, Xavier rolling into the infirmary to check on Yuriko with Rogue in tow. Xavier's reasoning was that Rogue was the one who had freed the woman from Stryker and could provide a "friendly face." Yuriko was curled up in a chair, staring with a mix of belligerence and weariness at one of the examining tables in the room. Xavier had invited the Asian woman to come upstairs with them to see what the President had decided, but she wasn't interested, wanting simply to continue to rest in a place she knew she was safe until they could talk about getting her home. Rogue supposed that being able to pass as human and not actually being from the US made her less concerned with the Presidential address.

Decipher and Conchita led everyone to the largest of the school's family rooms, one usually used when the entire student body had a movie night on the large projection screen set up on one wall. Xavier had spent a pretty penny on the system, and it showed "live" television programs as well as prerecorded entertainment. Rogue knew from a comment Xavier had made to Yuriko that when they had been here before going to DC, he had telepathically asked Piotr to record the major news networks since the rest of the X-Men would be in the air on their way back when the President made a decision.

Seconds after they reached the room, Rogue was in Piotr's arms. He'd vaulted over the back of a sofa to get to her and was now murmuring in rapid-fire Russian as he held her tight. Even though Piotr had been teaching her his native language from the time their friendship had begun, Rogue didn't understand everything he was saying. She did catch the gist of most of it, though: his fear for her safety and his absolute relief that she was back and unharmed.

Rogue opened their connection, knowing he wouldn't truly be at ease until he knew what had gone on when he wasn't with her. She quickly summarized everything that had happened since they'd parted during the raid on the school. The only thing she left out was the full extent of what she had learned from Mystique. Once she was ready to deal with it, Piotr would be one of the very few people she would be willing to tell, but for now it hurt too much to even think about. His arms tightened around her when she told him of Logan's betrayal. Once she was done, Piotr mentally filled her in on his end of things, including how much Wanda and Pietro had helped and were worried about her as well as the fact that they'd taken the kids to Darkholme and not to the House in the interest of keeping the peace.

The moment Rogue began to pull back, Xavier cleared his throat and asked Piotr to play back the President's speech. The tension in the room increased a hundred fold as everyone waited. Piotr queued up the recording and moved to stand off to the side with Rogue. Decipher and Conchita sat at their feet in the floor space where the twins had laid out their sleeping bags near the side wall. Many of the children had set up similar spots in the room, most with sleeping bags, some with blankets and pillows. They were all subdued.

The pause in the beginning of the President's address was conspicuous and awkward, and when he did speak it was slowly and with obviously heavy feeling behind it. He spoke of the attacks on the lives of mutants and non-mutants and made it clear that it had been the work of a group of terrorists, the vast majority of whom had been killed in the effort to stop their actions. The leader of the free world promised that no such attack would be allowed to happen again. He also urged people to resist letting this further tensions between mutants and those who weren't, saying that acts of retaliation on either side would be dealt with swiftly and firmly. No mention was made of Stryker's name or the fact that he had been working for the government, but that was to be expected.

The wave of relief that swept the room when everyone realized they'd escaped much worse repercussions was palpable.

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Logan had listened to the television report, but most of his focus had been across the room where Marie was standing with Piotr. A rush of possessiveness had him itching to pull Marie from the other man's arms when they'd greeted each other, but he forced himself to remember that she'd had a life here for two years. And from what he'd seen, Piotr was her closest friend. Marie was easy to care about, and he couldn't begrudge those who did. No matter how much the feral part of him wanted to.

"Logan, I presume you are feeling perfectly healthy?" Xavier asked, snapping Logan out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, Chuck."

"In that case, I'd like you to help Piotr keep an eye on the children while the rest of us sleep and recuperate for a few hours. The children should still be subdued after the incident, so it will not be a herculean effort, just one that will give Rogue and the rest of us one less thing to be anxious about while we recover."

Logan narrowed his eyes at Xavier's blatant use of Marie's well-being to get him to do something but nodded an affirmative anyway. He'd seen how tired Marie… and the others… were on the way back from the White House when they'd all finally let go. And though he knew Marie had at least a fairly healthy dose of his healing factor left in her from two years ago, she'd arguably done and been through a lot more physically and power-wise than the rest of them in the past two days. Besides, was there really any point in trying to downplay his feelings for Marie to the most powerful psychic in the world?

"Fine," he answered, adding a warning. "But if they get out of line, don't expect me to handle it like anyone but who I am."

"I'll keep that in mind," Xavier replied dryly.

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When Rogue physically faltered after the news report had been shut off, Piotr braced her against his side.

"Why are you so weak?" he asked, his concern clear in his tone.

"I didn't sleep last night," Rogue admitted. "That added to everything else…"

She trailed off, but Piotr didn't need her to continue. He knew her well enough to notice the little signs that showed she was near the breaking point, and she knew it.

"You need to sleep."

Rogue nodded agreement. "I'm just not sure where to do so. I don't think I should go back to the House and…"

"Use my room," he interrupted her gently. "It is still intact. I will be staying down here today with the younger kids while they rest so there should not be too much noise in that part of the building." Piotr glanced across the room. "Take Scott with you. I don't think he is ready to face their room without her in it."

Rogue followed his gaze to the X-Men field leader where he was standing near Xavier and Logan without being truly with them. Scott looked broken, like he was barely stopping himself from falling to the ground and just staying there. Even without everything he had done for her, she would still want to help him. That he had been such a good friend to her in the past made it all the more important for her not to fail him now. And though she was ashamed to admit it, even to herself, a small part of her was selfish enough to hope dealing with Scott's problems would let her avoid her own for a little while longer.

"I will," she softly told Piotr.

She turned to walk that way, Piotr holding her back for a few seconds to remind her, "Contact Wanda; they're worried."

Rogue nodded and squeezed the hand that had clasped hers before letting go. She walked in Scott's direction, almost faltering when Logan straightened as she drew closer. Not wanting him to think anything was wrong, Rogue gave Logan a tight smile before walking past him to Scott's side. When the visored man gave no sign of noticing her presence, she wrapped her gloved hand around his leather-clad wrist.

There was no way either of them would be able to get sufficient rest still dressed in their X-Men leathers, so Rogue began dragging him in the direction of the elevator to the lower levels. Her clothes were still in the women's locker room, and though Scott had been away from the school nearly a whole day longer than she had, she was sure his things were still in the men's. Scott didn't once balk or fight her chosen method of leading him… not that it would have done him much good if he had. She was stronger than Piotr and she knew Piotr was physically the strongest member of the X-Men.

The silence between them only truly became awkward in the elevator, but Rogue had no idea what to say to him. Scott had made the offer to be there for her when Hannah died, but Rogue somehow thought he wouldn't appreciate empty platitudes from her. Especially since he knew full well how she'd felt about Jean. When they reached the door to the men's locker room, Rogue stopped and turned to Scott.

"Will you be okay on your own?" she asked gently.

She had to fight not to flinch when her voice sounded too loud in the empty silver-colored hallway. Scott dipped his head in what Rogue had to assume was a nod. She released her hold on him, watching as he walked ploddingly through the door.

"Take a shower," she told him before he let go of the door to allow it swing closed. "I'm going to take one and then give you an extra ten minutes before I come in to check on you."

Scott's acknowledging nod was jerky but much more definite than the last one.

Knowing there was nothing else she could do for him for the moment, Rogue sighed and made her way into the women's locker room. She pulled her street clothes out of the locker she'd used… the uniform Mystique had given her tossed in a medical waste receptacle when Rogue had donned the X-Men uniform at Xavier's request… and stared at them for several seconds.

Though they were certainly cleaner than her uniform had been when she'd been forced to discard it, the clothes _had_ been worn for more than a day. Rogue didn't really want to put them back on. Remembering where the extras were kept from when Storm had given her a set to wear when she visited Magneto in prison, Rogue retrieved X-logo emblazoned sweats along with a pair of plain white tube socks. She would have to go without undergarments until hers could be washed.

Setting the clean garments on the bench nearest the showers after sealing her street clothes into a locker along with the lengths of adamantium she'd been hiding under her sleeves, Rogue stripped out of the leather encasing her body, keeping the gloves on the bench with the sweats she would be donning but tossing the bodysuit in a laundry bin. She leaned into the shower to turn on the water before reaching almost subconsciously for her neck. It took her several panicked moments after touching bare skin to remember that she had given Logan back his tag and that he had, in turn, thrown it at Stryker as if all the metal had ever been was a connection to the hate-filled human.

So much for the token that had been a symbol of his promises to her, the one he'd made on the train to take care of her and the one when he'd left and promised to return… she'd always thought it had been her he'd been promising to come back for instead of his literal words about the dog tag. She really should have known better. She wondered if she'd need to buy herself a necklace to replace it, sure she would continue to reach for the object that would never again be there. She was also sure it would hurt every time to remember.

With an angry growl, Rogue stepped into the shower and let the hot water drown her negative thoughts as it washed away the dirt, sweat and blood of her ordeal.

It was only when she'd stepped from the shower, clean and dripping, that she noticed the phone in the corner of the room. After wrapping herself in a towel and brushing her hair with a comb she'd found in the same drawer as the sweats… there had also been tooth brushes and other bathroom essentials… Rogue placed a call to the Brotherhood House, praying one of her friends would answer. It was Wanda's voice that greeted her, though Rogue could hear Pietro fidgeting close to his sister.

Rogue spent several minutes telling a truncated version of what happened before soothing Wanda and Pietro's worries, though she couldn't answer Wanda's tentative questions about Mystique and Magneto. After she hung up, Wanda promising to bring some of Rogue's things by the school later, Rogue moved back over to the bench. As she got dressed, she let go of her denial just enough to wonder when the next time she would see the woman who gave birth to her would be. And what circumstances it would be under.

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Logan crossed his arms over his chest for lack of something better to do with his hands, only then realizing that he was still wearing the restrictive leather uniform he resented. He pondered asking Piotr to watch the kids alone for a few minutes while he changed. A quick glance across the room showed that the tall, dark-haired Russian was talking quietly to Bobby and two teenage girls.

One was a pretty, petite Asian girl dressed in gray lounge pants and a yellow hoodie, yellow socks on her feet. The other was the brunette girl who could walk through walls. Logan still remembered her from the first memorable time he'd woken in Xavier's school; she had walked passed him and through the door of Xavier's office. He now knew her name was Kitty from hearing Marie talk to her on the Blackbird. It seemed like she was friends with Marie, though not anywhere near as close as Piotr was to her. Not wanting to butt in… Bobby was understandably withdrawn and the Asian girl had been among those rescued from Stryker's base… Logan took a slow look around the room, searching out the eyes he could feel watching him.

Some of the young kids glanced at him curiously from time to time, but it was the boy and girl, younger than Kitty and Bobby but still in their mid to late teens from the look of them, that had been waiting for Marie when they got back from D.C. that were observing him. From their shared attributes, he was sure they were siblings. Logan recognized the boy as one of the students that had been rescued. It must have been him that Mystique referred to when defending Rogue's involvement in the mission.

Compelled by the way they were watching him, Logan headed for the pair. He was aware of other eyes following curiously as he approached the boy and girl, but since when had he cared what anyone else thought of him? They looked up at him silently when he stopped a couple feet from where they were seated.

"You two are friends with Rogue, aren't ya?" he asked after a few seconds of awkward silence. They nodded but didn't respond verbally, and Logan tried not to scowl. He rarely put forth the effort to converse politely with others, and when he did, he liked to get a response. "How'd you get to be friends?"

When he had left, Marie had seemed in the midst of making friends with the kids her own age, but she wouldn't have shared classes or a dorm room with either of these two.

"She saved us," the girl responded, smiling shyly when his gaze focused solely on her.

Logan's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "You weren't one of the ones taken by Stryker."

The girl made a small, dismayed noise and clutched her brother's arm.

"Rogue saved Conchita from being taken when the school was raided," the boy informed him, patting his sister's hand consolingly. "But what she meant was that Rogue saved us more than a year ago. We were part of a group she helped free from a lab."

"She's been an X-Man that long?" Logan asked in shock.

The boy frowned deeply and shook his head. Before Logan could ask him any more, however, another voice intruded.

"Decipher, that's enough." Piotr motioned for Logan to follow him away from the teens. He kept his voice low when he stopped and addressed the older man. "Wait for Rogue to tell you the story, Logan. You owe her the right to have her version be the first you hear, don't you think?"

"Why would there be different versions?"

The tall Russian's jaw clenched.

"There always are," Piotr answered succinctly.

Logan grunted an acknowledgment before asking what he'd been waiting to, "Would you mind if I left for twenty minutes to shower and change?"

"Not at all," the younger man answered. "I know how uncomfortable those uniforms are."

"Thanks," Logan said, turning to head for the lower levels.

Not only had he seen Marie head that way, he wasn't sure the room he'd been given had come through the invasion unscathed, and he wasn't in the mood to find out just yet. When he reached the locker room after retrieving his clothes from the jet, Logan noticed Scott in one of the showers. Red-tinged goggles replaced his usual visor, and Logan had to wonder if the wetness streaming down the younger man's face was a mixture of tears and the spray from the shower. Despite his empathy for the other man's loss, Logan ignored Scott's presence. It was a combination of proper locker room etiquette and knowing Scott would not appreciate anything Logan had to say.

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Rogue left the women's locker room to collect Scott from the men's, only to find Logan in the hall. He was leaning against the wall next to the locker room door, his hair damp and his street clothes back in place. Unable to avoid him when it was just the two of them in the hall, Rogue pushed down the hurt she felt every time she saw him and walked over with a tired smile plastered on her face.

"Scott still in there?" she asked as she drew nearer to him.

Logan nodded. "He's getting dressed."

Pushing off the wall, Logan moved the few of his longer steps that were necessary to be close to her. Rogue forced herself not to pull away when he clasped her upper arms in his large hands, massaging up and down a short distance as he studied her.

"How are ya doin'?" he asked, his voice gruff.

"Tired," Rogue answered honestly.

Logan pulled her into his arms. A sigh escaped him as their bodies made contact, her head coming to rest just under his chin. Rogue closed her eyes, pretending for a moment that he hadn't shattered her heart and she could just enjoy his embrace. Logan buried his nose in the top of her still-wet hair, inhaling deeply.

"We had a lot of close calls the past two days," he rumbled quietly after a silent minute.

A short, humorless laugh escaped her. "That's very true."

He shifted her away from him just enough so he could look into her eyes. "You're okay, though, right?"

"I will be," she hedged, privately wondering if she was trying to convince him or herself. "You should go back upstairs. You and Scott can't be within ten feet of each other without arguing, and he doesn't need that right now."

He didn't point out that he had just been in the same room as Scott. Instead he sighed and nodded.

"I do need to get back up there. Chuck asked me to help Piotr keep an eye on the rugrats."

One corner of her mouth twitched upward in lieu of a reply, and Logan let go of her and stepped back.

"See ya soon, darlin'," he murmured as a goodbye.

Rogue watched him go, her Inner Logan prodding her to see how much the flesh and blood version cared about her and wanted to spend time with her. Unfortunately she knew Erik's observation… that Logan had latched on to his second choice since Jean was gone… was the more pertinent one.

A few minutes later, Scott exited the men's locker room. Rogue reached for his wrist to lead him again, but Scott turned his hand so that her gloved one slid into it. She was somewhat startled that he had the presence of mind to find being dragged around like a reluctant child annoying, but she also knew from his silence that he wasn't yet ready to talk about what had happened. She knew the feeling, and gladly kept her mouth shut as she led Scott to Piotr's room.

Thankfully Piotr had an interior room that lacked windows, making it dark enough for Rogue to be sure she would be able to fool herself into thinking it was as late as her body was tired. When she had led Scott into the room and closed the door behind them, Rogue let a tired sigh escape. Scott turned his face in her direction, and despite his visor Rogue could tell he was looking at her questioningly.

"Take Jaime's bed," she instructed. "I'm used to Piotr's scent."

A short nod preceded Scott's trudging journey to the bed furthest from the door. Rogue watched him with a worried frown for a few minutes before lying down in Piotr's bed. She was bone tired, and fell asleep quickly.

Unfortunately she was awoken less than twenty minutes later by sounds of despair from the other side of the room. Sitting up, Rogue looked over at Scott, able to see him in the dark thanks to Logan and Sabretooth's heightened senses… she could also hear him all too well. He was crying so hard that he was gasping for air between sobs. It hurt her heart to hear.

Even though she didn't think he'd be aware of her movement either way, Rogue made sure to make noise as she approached the bed he was lying in. She sat on the edge of the bed, Scott's back to her. Setting a gentle hand on his heaving shoulder, Rogue waited through his startled flinch before speaking.

"Scott," she murmured as comfortingly as she could. "You need to sleep."

"I… can't," he responded brokenly, his voice rough from his crying jag and disuse.

Do you trust me? she asked his mind.

Scott gasped, and Rogue faltered for a moment when she realized he hadn't remembered she had telepathy… and that she was the first person to be in his head since Jean had died. Rogue immediately felt as if she'd gone too far, pushed into his business when she didn't have his permission to do so. She started to get up, to leave him be, until Scott latched onto her arm with one hand.

Yes. His astral voice was calmer but no less sad than his physical one had been.

I'm going to touch you for a few moments concentrating on your life force. It will only be enough to knock you out.

The hand that hadn't let go of her arm squeezed gently. Okay.

Rogue waited while he rolled back over and settled comfortably. He already seemed less tense, and Rogue knew she had made the right decision in offering him this brief respite. She eased his visor off first, slightly surprised by how young he looked without it. She then peeled her right glove off, laying her fingers gently on his cheek when she was sure she would only take what she meant to. The second Scott's body relaxed, she pulled her hand away. After waiting a minute to be sure he was unconscious, she moved back to Piotr's bed, taking the time to remove her other glove and set them both on the bedside table before going back to sleep.

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Logan fidgeted in the corner where he'd chosen to hold up the wall and keep an eye on the kids. He'd need to make another circuit of the room soon to stop himself from going stir crazy. When he'd made the comment about the kids misbehaving to Xavier hours earlier, he'd expected them to actually do so. At least a little. After all, there were just over sixty of them, of varying ages, all stuck in one room.

But so far everything had been low key. Right now, some of the kids were napping. Others were reading or playing with handheld electronics. Others had split into small groups to play board games, and some of the older kids were reading aloud to the younger ones. Decipher and Conchita, both of whom had avoided looking at him since Piotr's earlier admonishment, were watching an all-news channel with the volume turned down and closed caption turned on. He wasn't really watching, but he knew from the glances he'd thrown that way that right now short interviews with various politicians were being aired with their opinions on the President's speech and the state of mutant affairs in general.

A loud gasp suddenly sounded from the sibling pair, and Decipher agitatedly called Piotr's name.

"What is it?" Piotr asked as he walked toward them.

Instead of verbally answering, Conchita got up and pointed to one of the names on the list of upcoming guest speakers: Senator Kelly.

'Wasn't that the guy who was killed by Magneto's machine?' Logan mentally wondered.

Pitor muttered something Logan didn't understand… though if he made a guess it would be a swear word in Russian… and turned to face him.

"Watch the kids."

It wasn't a request, and though Logan bristled at being given an order by the younger man, his curiosity about the situation outweighed the potential for anger. Piotr took off at nearly a sprint, several of the children watching him go with wide eyes.

He was back a rather short time later. Surprisingly, the person he brought back with him was not Xavier or Storm or Scott as Logan had assumed, but Marie. She had obviously just woken up from the glassy look of her eyes and her slightly mussed hair. But when she looked at the TV only to have a blonde haired man …Logan was startled that it was indeed the same man that had died in the medical lab downstairs two years ago, until he remembered Mystique's ability… with "Senator Kelly" emblazoned on the screen below his face come on and start talking, all traces of sleepiness left her. Marie's lips parted and she watched the brief interview with a furrow between her delicate brows.

Piotr, standing beside her with a large hand resting on her shoulder, asked her quietly, "Any idea why she'd go back?"

The question came after Kelly's brief statement was over and another politician had appeared.

Marie shook her head. "Not really. Defeating the Mutant Registration Act and finding Magneto were the reasons she did it the first time, I had no idea she'd go back now that both have happened."

"Why is he asking you?" Logan questioned.

Marie's eyes went wide as her gaze met his. She opened her mouth, but whatever she had been about to say was interrupted by a tone similar to a doorbell.

"That's the front gate," Piotr said.

He made a hand motion toward Decipher, who punched a few buttons on the remote. The TV screen changed to show a young woman and man standing on the outside of the school's front gate. Logan recognized the woman as the one that had been with Marie at Darkholme. The man was also familiar… he'd been the one standing with the man who'd tried to 'rescue' Marie from his attentions… and was obviously a mutant. The silver hair was a dead giveaway. There were two suitcases on the ground at their feet. Were they here to ask for refuge?

He turned to ask Marie if she knew only to find her already heading for the front door. Despite Piotr's scowl at being abandoned, Logan moved to follow. His jaw dropped when he exited the front door of the mansion just in time to see Marie lift off the ground and fly to and over the gate. Evidently she didn't need metal to fly… when had she gotten that ability, and how? The longer he was back, the more questions he had. Just what had he missed out on over the last two years?

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No sooner had she landed in front of them than Rogue was engulfed in Wanda and Pietro's embrace. It reminded her a bit of Decipher and Conchita's earlier greeting and once again made her realize how much _this_ set of twins meant to her. Now that their father was back, what would happen between the three of them? It would kill a part of her to lose them.

"We've been so worried," Wanda said when they eventually pulled back.

"I'm okay," Rogue automatically responded. She then added, "Mama was just on the news, she returned to her position as Kelly."

Pietro's eyebrows shot up in surprise before he asked, "Any idea why?"

Rogue shook her head, "Not really."

"How's everything going in there?" Wanda asked to change what was obviously a tense subject.

"Scott's a mess, the kids seem to be handling things well… but I'm not sure about the building itself or what will happen tomorrow when the kids are supposed to be in class and one of the teachers is gone."

"There's some damage and definitely a lot of cleaning to do," Pietro said, "but it's not as bad as it could have been. I zipped through when we brought the kids to make sure there was nothing left behind by the soldiers. I didn't see anything structurally compromising. We'd volunteer to help, for you, but I don't think Xavier would go for it."

"Probably not," Rogue admitted. "But thanks for the offer, I appreciate it."

"No matter what happens," Wanda said, her voice suspiciously breathy, "you know what you mean to us."

"Wanda." Rogue's voice broke on her friend's name.

A second later, the three were sharing another hug, this one with an air of desperation to it. They had all known, practically from the beginning, that the day would come when Rogue would have to move out of the House. But knowing something would eventually happen and actually having it happen when you had been dreading it were two very different things. It was several long minutes before Pietro began to fidget. Rogue was surprised it had taken him that long.

"We'll still see each other," she said as they pulled away from each other. "You both mean a lot to me, I'm not going to just give up our friendships. Besides, we'll see each other at work… you will still work at Darkholme, won't you?"

"Of course we will," Pietro answered quickly, even for him.

Wanda dredged up a smile from somewhere, nodding her head firmly as she said, "The only thing that's changing is your address."

Rogue smiled as well. "I'll be here for a couple days, most likely. Then I plan on using the rooms above Darkholme until I figure something out."

"You're not just going to stay with the X-Men?" Pietro questioned.

"No," Rogue shook her head. "Nothing's changed in that regard, I still don't belong here."

Once again, Wanda was the one to dissolve tension by changing the subject. "I packed some of your clothes and all of your essentials. We'll take care of packing up the rest of your room and send it over to Darkholme for you so you don't have to come back to the House."

"Thank you," Rogue said.

And then there was nothing more to say, no more ways to draw out the parting they'd known would come and dreaded for nearly two years. When Rogue took the two suitcases back up to the School, Logan was no longer in front of the building. She assumed he was inside watching the kids again. Rogue took the luggage to Piotr's room. She changed into her own clothes, quietly leaving the two cases in the room after seeing that Scott was still asleep.

Knowing she wouldn't feel right leaving the School until things had returned to something approaching normalcy, she decided to do a walkthrough of the students' rooms as a place to start. Though no weapons had been left behind by the invading force led by Stryker, the darts they'd used to sedate the kids were in several beds, floors and walls. Rogue gathered them as she went, using her control over metal. She had collected quite a large, misshapen lump of metal when she was done. Getting a short mental message from Xavier that he had other things for her to do if she was willing, Rogue headed for his office to see how she could help.

When the kitchen staff did not show up that evening… Xavier informed her that if the school was attacked, there were certain automated messages sent out… Xavier had Rogue order takeout to be delivered. Feeding that many people in that fashion was ridiculously expensive, but Xavier didn't even blink when Rogue told him the total that had been charged to the credit card he'd had her use.

Somehow over the next couple days, Rogue turned into Xavier's temporary right hand. Logan and Piotr were in charge of the physical clean up, with the older kids helping and the younger students allowed sweep up or fetch and carry chores that didn't present the danger of the larger debris.

Storm was withdrawn… Xavier told Rogue that maintaining control over her power when Storm was emotional was extremely difficult for the weather witch… and she and Kurt watched the kids who couldn't help. Scott was nowhere to be found most of the time, though occasionally someone would run across him in a dark corner. Once he had been found, he would inevitably slink away again.

Xavier hired a private jet to take Yuriko back to her native Japan the day after they got back. With the adamantium in her fingers she would no longer be able to get through an airport. Rogue got the feeling that Xavier would have liked Yuriko to stay longer so he could find out exactly what had happened to her while she'd been with Stryker, but there was more than enough to be done in getting life in the mansion back on track and Yuriko had been very anxious to leave.

So with Storm and Scott being less than their usual selves, Piotr and Logan taking on the physical and Kurt simply being too new, Xavier turned to Rogue to assist him with the more managerial aspect of things. It was she who looked up all the files on people and companies they would need to contact. She who called the staff back when the main cleanup was done. Xavier had told her to just use Jean's office when making calls and faxing orders… more than one window and door needed replacing along with furniture and the refrigerator Logan had skewered in the school's private kitchen (the meals for the students were prepared in a much larger, more professional room)… but Rogue had balked at that. So Xavier gave her access to an empty office down the hall from his main one.

The teachers that weren't X-Men and didn't live at the school were told classes would resume on Tuesday (they'd gotten back on Sunday, and Monday was filled with cleaning up and getting all the students moved back into their rooms). Rogue was also put in charge of calling all of Xavier's approved substitutes and scheduling enough of them to cover all of Jean's classes until the end of the school year, which was still a few months away. Rouge took the liberty of scheduling a few to cover Scott's teaching duties as well for a few weeks. If he needed more time than that, he or Xavier would have to find someone after she left.

Sunday evening to Tuesday afternoon, Rogue was kept very busy. Not only was she taking care of a lot for the school, but she also had to have a new cell phone overnighted to Xavier's and then begin the process of temporarily changing her address for everything to Darkholme. She also had to call her own employees and tell them not to come in until she let them know Darkholme was reopening, assuring them they would continue to be paid while it was closed.

Because she was so busy, it became almost easy to avoid being alone with Logan long enough to have a meaningful conversation. Rogue could tell he wasn't happy about the fact that they hadn't been able to talk yet and she knew she needed to have the catch-up conversation with him at the very least, but she wanted to wait until it hurt less to see him. She just hoped it got easier to deal with the pain soon.

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"Do you have a minute?"

Rogue looked up from the order form she was filling out to look at Logan. There was an intensity in his eyes that told her he wasn't going to be put off by any of the excuses she'd been using the past couple of days.

"Just let me finish this," she said, gesturing to the paper. "The company closes in twenty minutes and I need to have this faxed in before that."

Logan grunted and stalked the perimeter of the room giving it a once over before he sank into the chair in front of the desk. Rogue found it both endearing and insulting that he felt the need to make sure the space they were occupying was safe. She could take care of herself, had been doing just that for some time, but she also understood his alpha male mindset and the fact that he had a need to keep her in particular safe.

When she was done with her task, Rogue decided to take the initiative and speak first. "What did Stryker tell you while I was fighting Yuriko?" When he frowned, she backtracked, "I'm sorry, it's not really any of my business."

"S'alright, Marie," he responded. "You're the only person I'd tell. Just didn't expect you to ask right off the bat like that."

"I was curious," she said softly.

Logan nodded absently, avoiding her gaze. "He didn't really tell me much. He said that I was nothing but an animal, that he just gave me claws." He released the adamantium appendages as he said it before making them retract a moment later. "He also said that I volunteered for the procedure."

Rogue frowned deeply, "I don't know to what degree he was lying about that, but I do know he lied about the claws."

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Meeting Marie's eyes again when she replied in such a calm tone, Logan asked, "What do you mean?"

He had expected to hear at least a hint of disgust or fear in her voice. It was what he felt himself to a degree, how could someone as pure as Marie not feel even more strongly about his dark and regrettably still mysterious past than he did? But to her credit she sounded only slightly confused, nothing more negative than that.

When he had been talking to Stryker himself, there had been too many other emotions in the other man's scent to determine whether he'd been lying or not. So how could Marie possibly know? Logan frowned again, in confusion this time, as Marie came around the desk, pulling off her gloves as she did. Perching on the front edge facing him, Marie held her hands up, making fists.

"You already had claws," she said, flinching slightly as sharp bone shot out of her flesh, protruding between her knuckles the same way his did. "He just made them unbreakable."

He could tell even from where he was that hers weren't; he thanked whatever deity might be out there for making sure she would never go through the surgery he'd barely survived to have the metal grafted to his bones since the secret procedure had died with Stryker. Logan got up to study them more closely. Though Marie didn't tell him to back away, she did shrink back slightly when he approached her. That action along with the way she'd been avoiding being alone with him since before their infiltration of Stryker's base combined to form a knot in his gut.

Had he been wrong in thinking she felt something similar to what he did? Had her earlier positive responses to him simply been happiness to see him again and nothing deeper? Logan tamped down on the sick feeling in his stomach and concentrated on their current conversation.

"Be careful," she was saying, "I don't have my gloves on."

Realizing she had flinched back out of fear of hurting him if he touched her, some of the knot in his middle unwound. With Marie's selfless worry in mind, Logan moved closer and gently touched the bone claws a few inches above where they protruded from her skin. They were solid and looked strong, but they were still just bone.

"Have you used them?" he asked gently.

Marie immediately shook her head. "This is only the second time I've popped them. I didn't even know I had them until… until recently."

Logan nodded understanding, though he wondered at her hesitation. He moved his hand down to curl around her arm where her sleeve prevented skin-to-skin contact.

"Put them away."

Marie's claws slid back into her flesh. She wiggled her fingers as the skin between them closed up. As she did, Logan could feel the tendons, muscles and bones in her forearm move under her skin. It was an oddly erotic sensation, and he had to fight not to press up against her to feel her move in an entirely different way. Logan reluctantly let go of Marie's arm and moved back slightly, watching as she slipped her gloves back on.

"Wanna go get some dinner and catch up?"

"Dinner won't be served for another hour," she replied absently, "but you can save me a seat if you want. I think I'll be done here by then."

"I meant out, Marie. Do you wanna go out to dinner?"

"Like on a…" She paused, frowned, and changed her response. "I don't think that's a good idea right now, Logan."

He was pretty sure she'd been about to ask him if he meant it as a date… which of course he did… but her tone when she said it wasn't a good idea had been serious and she'd been telling the truth from her scent.

"Why not?" he couldn't help asking, hoping it was anything but what he feared: a lack of romantic feelings on her part.

"Anti-mutant sentiment is very high right now," Marie told him. "Appearances in public for mutants like me who are less likely to pass as human," she touched her white streak as she said this, "will be risky for awhile. I don't want to be turned away from a restaurant or start a riot just being in public. We should wait until things cool down."

"Alright." Logan reluctantly agreed. He stepped in closer to her, fingering the pale hair that framed her face much as he had when he'd left two years ago. "I don't wanna do anything that'll put you in danger, Marie."

She smiled sweetly at him but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Hoping it was because of the current state of human-relations and not something else, Logan stepped back. Noticing that there was still more paperwork on the surface of the desk she was using and knowing that saying all he needed to say to her wouldn't go across very well right now, Logan decided to make a strategic withdrawal.

"We'll catch up later, darlin," he said by way of a goodbye.

"Logan." He paused and glanced back at her. "Have you seen Scott?"

"Not in the last few hours. Not surprising, though. He's been sulking in corners of the mansion and grounds, and he finds a new place to hide every time someone finds him."

Marie nodded absently and walked back around the desk to sit down. With a last lingering look, Logan left her to her work.

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Scott was sitting on a partially hidden bench in the rose garden when Rogue found him half an hour before dinner. When he glanced up at her as she stopped in front of him, she gestured silently to the empty space beside him. Scott nodded briefly. If it had been anyone else, he would have asked them to leave him alone or have just left himself, but Rogue had done nothing but give him what he needed since Alkali Lake.

Though most of his concentration had been on controlling his emotions, he had been aware of her silent, supportive presence by his side at the White House. And then when they'd gotten back, Rogue had made sure he rested, even going so far as to use her mutation on him when he couldn't fall asleep on his own. He knew using her mutation was something she never did lightly. The tasks she'd taken on in the past couple of days had included not only a share of Jean's former duties, but some of his as well.

Unlike the Professor and Storm, she hadn't tried to get him to talk about anything. She had just let him grieve the way he had to. Though there were guest rooms and empty "teacher" rooms set aside in case the ranks of the X-Men ever grew, both of them had spent the past two nights once more in Piotr's room. Jaime had been moved to the room Bobby had formerly shared with St. John, a decision Scott was cognizant enough to realize Rogue had suggested so the older boy wouldn't feel the loss of his roommate and former best friend quite so strongly.

Piotr and Rogue slept in Piotr's bed. It had made Scott uncomfortable for a few minutes the first night before he realized they were both fully clothed and that Piotr slept on top of the blankets. He knew they were close, and he also knew that Rogue didn't really trust being at the School. Scott's admiration of her strength of character grew when he realized how much she was putting herself out there to help the School get back on its feet. It made sense that she would spend her nights, arguably when anyone was at his or her most vulnerable, next to the one man who would do anything for her… though he did wonder why Logan hadn't taken Piotr's position as Rogue's rock now that he was back.

"It's beautiful out here," Rogue observed almost absently, drawing Scott's attention back to the here and now. "Quiet."

"Are you going to ask me how I am?" he wondered aloud.

Rogue made a soft sound of dissent, "Only if you want me to."

"I don't know what I'm going to do without her," Scott admitted, surprising himself and apparently Rogue as well since she went still for a few moments. "We've had breaks from our relationship as well as more than our fair share of disagreements and rough patches, especially in the last few years, but even when we weren't together, Jean has been a part of my life since I was thirteen. I'm not sure I know who I am without her."

"You're a good man who fights for what he believes in and tries to always do the right thing," Rogue answered. "You'll get through this. You're strong enough."

Something about her tone when she said that last sentence made him think she wasn't sure _she_ was strong enough. But he knew she had long acknowledged that she'd have to leave the House if Magneto escaped, so it had to be more than just that. For the first time since his loss at Alkali Lake, Scott truly looked at another person for more than a few seconds. He was unpleasantly surprised by what he found.

Rogue looked rundown. Her shoulders were slumped and there were shadows in and under her eyes. Her hair was pulled back… except for her white streak… so it was hard to tell completely, but Scott thought it looked a bit lank and lackluster. Something had to be bothering her. Rogue had never struck him as vain, but she had definitely always taken good care of herself once it became possible for her to do so.

"What's wrong?" he asked, aware that he was brushing aside his own problems to hear about hers. Surprisingly, he didn't begrudge the fact that they wouldn't be talking about Jean anymore.

"I… I've learned some things recently that I don't know how to deal with," Rogue answered, her voice hesitant. "And I can't… I don't want anyone to know but I also can't just keep it to myself."

"You can tell me," Scott assured her. "I won't say anything to anyone. And it would take a powerful psychic who was actually looking for the information to get it out of me; I've been training with telepaths for a long time."

Rogue was silent for what felt like an eternity. Just as he was about to give up on her trusting in him, she spoke. At first, he didn't see what the big problem was.

"Mystique is my mother," she said quietly but firmly.

"I know…"

"No," she interrupted. "She _really is_ my mother, my biological mother."

He sat for a few minutes in silent surprise. Okay, _that_ was a big deal.

"Why lie and say she adopted you?" he finally asked.

She sighed. "I didn't learn the truth myself until the night before we infiltrated Stryker's base."

He swore colorfully; when she said recently, she really meant it. "That had to be hard to have to deal with going into a situation like that. Do you… do you know who your father is?"

Rogue flinched visibly. "There is still the slightest chance that the man I grew up thinking was my father actually is, but… I know who _probably_ is my biological father."

"Magneto?" he questioned as gently as he could when she didn't seem capable of continuing.

It was the only thing that made sense with how devastated she seemed about it. It had to be someone she knew and didn't like, and that short list was narrowed down considerably when compared to the list of men he knew Mystique might have been involved with that long ago.

Rogue swallowed hard and nodded brusquely. "I don't know for sure though."

"Do you want to find out?" he asked carefully.

Rogue looked away for long moments.

"Part of me needs to," she answered softly, "just to know for sure one way or the other. But I'm not sure how to find out without _him_ finding out, and I definitely do not want that happening."

"I can see why," he said grimly.

A humorless laugh escaped her. Scott stared at Rogue for several seconds with a slight frown.

"No matter what you find out, it doesn't change who you are." He waited until she nodded in response before continuing. "The Professor still has Magneto's DNA profile in his records. All we'd have to do is send your blood to Hank McCoy for a work up and then compare the two. No one would even have to know besides us, I have access to the files."

"Would it really be that simple? Who would we ask to compare the profiles without risking them telling Xavier?"

Scott gestured to himself, "I know enough from things Jean used to show me in her work with genetics to be able to tell that much. I promise this will be stay between us as long as that's what you want."

"Thank you, Scott."

The visored man reached over and grasped her gloved hand with his bare one, giving it a squeeze. "Thank _you_."

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Once she'd told Scott her secret… and taken the first steps in finding out her paternity by overnighting a blood sample to Dr. McCoy… it was a lot easier to tell Piotr. Her best friend was a bit hurt that she had shared it with someone else first, but he reacted much the same way Scott had, reassuring Rogue that her genetic heritage had nothing to do with who she was. When she had seemed hesitant to accept it, Piotr had asked if she held any sort of grudge against Wanda and Pietro because of who their father was.

"Of course not!" she'd immediately responded. The ludicrous nature of feeling that way about someone else but not herself was momentarily ignored when another realization came to her. "If he _is_ my father… they may really be my brother and sister."

Rogue had told Piotr what the twins had said to her at their dinner more than a year ago. He knew how much it had meant to her to have someone who considered her family when she had known so little about her own.

"If it is true, you know they will be happy about it."

She nodded at Piotr's statement. "Having them as my siblings would be the silver lining of the situation, but… the more people who know, the more likely it is that _he_ will find out…"

Pitor had drawn her into his arms and soothed gently, "We'll worry about that when the time comes, _if_ it comes."

But though Rogue knew he had a point, that they couldn't be sure it was even a concern until her DNA workup came back, she couldn't help feeling that it was something she needed to be prepared to face.

_**To be continued…**_


	27. Chapter 27

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** So I was originally going to rework this chapter _entirely_ from what I had planned it to be since so many people complained about Logan and Marie not having a serious talk. (It took 16 chapters for them to be reunited at all, and you want things cleared up that quickly? Guess you want the story to end sooner rather than later. Ouch.) But as I tried to write it that way, I realized it was completely skewing my plans for where the story was going, so I cut back on the reveals (don't worry, more are coming fairly soon and there's still more here than what I originally planned). I hope I can figure something out from here without it irreparably harming the plot. If you want to abandon the story because it doesn't wrap up as quickly as you want, I'm surprised you've read it this far, lol. Anyway, if you do leave, thanks for enjoying the story while you did, and if you stick with me, yay!

Technically this chapter should have been up a week and a couple days ago to make the ten day limit I set for myself, but I had so much trouble deciding what to do (and frankly my brother and then myself were sick, and then the Fourth is a HUGE deal with my family), I hope I can be forgiven (I did make it a bit longer than the chapters are "supposed" to be now)… not to mention I wasn't getting my FFN emails for a few days last week, so I thought the site was having problems (still don't know if it was FFN or my email account).

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Logan was already seated when Marie walked into the dining room with Piotr and Scott. A scowl that was beginning to feel like a permanent expression formed. She spent a lot of what little free time she had with one or the other of the two men. Every time Logan was anywhere near her she had the scent of one or both of the men on her. Didn't she have any female friends? Or any time for him?

Marie must have felt his gaze on her, because she turned her head to look directly at him. When her eyebrows drew together and the corners of her mouth dipped slightly, Logan realized he was still scowling. He immediately cleared his displeasure from his expression and gave Marie a slow smile and a wink. Her eyebrows shot up in what seemed to be surprise, but she sent him a small smile back before following the two men she'd entered with to get some food. When the three had gathered their dinners, Rogue spoke briefly to them before breaking off to walk toward him.

Though most of his focus was on her, Logan noted that Scott left the room and Piotr moved to join Storm, Xavier and Kurt at the teachers' table. Usually he sat there as well, but he'd wanted to make this as private as possible… sort of a replacement for the dinner date she'd rejected. Now that he thought more about it though, maybe they should follow Scott's example and eat somewhere else. As she reached his table, otherwise empty at his end but with a few children sitting at the other end, Logan stood before Marie had a chance to sit.

"It's pretty nice out," he commented to her confused look. "Would you like to eat outside with me?"

Marie swallowed convulsively, a touch of nervousness in her scent, but nodded in response. "Sure, that sounds nice."

She trailed him out into one of the gardens; a rose garden he had learned was Storm's sanctuary. He led the way straight to a simple bench. Logan straddled the concrete that still held some warmth from the sun having shone on it all day… the sun was still up but not shining directly down on them… setting his plate down between his spread thighs. Marie mimicked his actions a moment later so that they were seated facing each other. Logan felt something in him calm at being close to her again, especially since it was just the two of them.

Content for the moment and knowing from observing her as much as he could during the day that Marie needed to eat, Logan let silence reign as they ate their dinner. It wasn't quite as companionable a silence as Logan had expected… _hoped_… it would be. It was that more than anything that confirmed that there was still something coming between them. In the relatively short but overly eventful time they had known each other, their silences had been as meaningful as their words. Maybe even more so. Even that first night he'd been back when they'd danced at that club and their trip from the School to Bobby's house had been like that… it was only recently that the silence was filled with unasked questions and doubts that made his heart twist tightly in his chest.

When he had finished eating, Logan moved his plate and glass behind him on the bench. Marie followed his example a moment later. Her plate had not been cleared all the way, but Logan had noticed that she had been moving things around on her plate for the last few minutes without actually eating anything. So he didn't comment on the fact that she hadn't eaten as much as he thought she should have.

"I missed you," he told her abruptly when he caught her eyes with his.

A soft, sad smile curved her full lips. "I missed you too, Logan."

He couldn't help smiling at the admission, and he moved closer to her by instinct. Marie watched him with more than a touch of wariness in her eyes, but he'd already held back much longer than he had ever wanted to. He needed to be near her, to touch her if she'd let him. The warm feeling in his chest… and elsewhere… that he always felt when he was with her grew the closer he moved. When he'd gotten close enough to feel her breath on his lips, she rather abruptly sat back, leaving him leaning awkwardly forward with no hope of reaching her mouth with his.

"What's wrong, darlin'?" he asked, his voice a rumble.

He felt bad, expecting her to remind him once again of the untouchable nature of her skin. He felt worse when her answer was something else entirely.

"It's too soon," Marie told him apologetically.

He sensed a hesitation but had no way of knowing what it was about, what she was thinking but not saying.

"It's been two years," Logan said quietly, lifting a hand to lightly caress her jaw line, protected from her skin by the soft fall of snowy white and rich red-brown hair beneath his bare fingers. "How much longer do you want me to wait?"

"Logan…" Marie's voice was hushed, a kind of confused awe in her tone. But a moment later, she shook her head as if to clear it and said, "I meant it's too soon since you got back. We need to get to know each other again, for each of us to see how the other has changed. You… you're asking for too much too quickly."

Logan searched her face before dropping his eyes, not wanting her to see just how disappointed he was. Marie was worth waiting for… more than worth it… but that didn't mean he had to like the necessity of doing so.

"I'll slow down," he promised grudgingly. "But you have to agree to stop avoiding me all the time. We can't get to know each other again if we never spend any time together."

"Okay," she agreed softly.

"Speaking of how we've changed," he picked up a separate thread of an earlier part of their conversation, "how is it that you can fly now? Have you picked up any other powers while I've been gone?"

A small but genuine smile tugged the corners of her lips. "A few."

"Tell me about them." There was just a hint of a plea in the demand, and apparently it was enough for her to overlook that he had _made_ a demand, because she answered.

"Well, you know I still have your powers and Magneto's. I also touched the Professor at one point so I have telepathy. I got dosed by two other super healers, and one of them also had heightened senses like you. I can also project images, though I'm not very good at it since I have never really practiced with that power, read the powers of other mutants, something I got from Decipher the first time we met, and fly." She paused and looked at him, "I'm sure you've noticed while working with him how strong Piotr is."

Logan nodded. There had been a couple of times Piotr had changed to his metal-covered form in order to move something that would have otherwise necessitated the use of a crane, but even without the transformation, the Russian mutant had strength far superior to anyone Logan had ever met.

Marie smirked. "I'm stronger."

Logan blinked. "How is that possible?"

Marie's dark green eyes dimmed slightly. "What led up to it is a long story, one I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you, but there was a woman, Carol Danvers… she called herself Miss Marvel… anyway, we had a little run-in and she's the one I got the flight and super-strength and invulnerability from."

"Invulnerability?" Logan echoed.

Marie had sounded almost broken when she'd been speaking. And though he wanted to make her feel better, he had no idea how to do so. If he kept her talking, maybe what was bothering her would come out and they could deal with it.

"I'm not invincible by any stretch of the imagination, but I am safe from projectiles and a certain amount of concussive force. And it takes a lot to beat me up."

Logan nodded understanding and mentally searched for a new direction to their conversation, "And the super healing? You said you've touched two others. I know one of them was Lady Deathstrike… who was the other?"

"Victor Creed."

The name seemed somehow familiar, like he should know who that was, but he couldn't quite put his mental finger on the information. "Who?"

"Sabretooth," Marie clarified. He wanted to yell, to demand why she had been anywhere near the psycho, but she was watching him with an intensity that made him shift in his seat. "Things he said made it obvious he knew you before the whole thing with Magneto two years ago. I thought maybe his real name would mean something to you."

"God, Marie, is that why you touched him? To find out if he _might _have some small piece of information about my past?"

Marie scowled at him, "It would have been nice if it had actually worked that way, but no, that isn't why I touched him. It was more than a year ago and he showed up where he didn't need to be and he wouldn't leave when I asked nicely, so I made him."

Logan nearly growled, both at himself for sticking his foot in it and at her for being so blasé about fighting someone even _he'd_ had trouble with. Instead, he forced himself to calm down before he spoke again.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Marie assured him softly.

Unable to help himself with the image of her hurt in his mind's eye, Logan scooted close to Marie again. Giving her the chance to pull away if she wanted to, Logan wrapped his arms around her lightly. A sigh escaped him when she let him hold her, though Marie didn't lean into him. Until her gaze lifted to meet his and their eyes locked, hazel to dark green. Almost immediately they both started to lean in together. Marie seemed to be, once more, as entangled in the pull between them as he was.

The only sign of any hesitation on her part was a slight fluttering of her hand as it reached for a spot several inches below the hollow of her throat only to grasp at nothing. Marie frowned and her shoulders slumped faintly, and Logan wanted to kick himself _again_. Marie had worn his dog tag for two whole years. She had given it back to him in case he needed it to find out something about his past, and what had he done? He'd thrown it away like it meant nothing to him… to her.

Logan opened his mouth to apologize, to tell her he would find some way to make it up to her. But as they had been much too often since reuniting, they were interrupted. The ring of a cell phone too close to be anyone but hers ended the thick silence between them. She pulled it out, almost in a trance, and glanced at the screen where a phone number was backlit.

"I have to take this, Logan," she told him.

Logan sighed and nodded, watching as she lifted off the ground to sit on the roof of the School and take her call. Realizing she was too far away for even him to hear unless she raised her voice significantly, Logan gathered their dishes and headed inside.

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Rogue waited through another ring after she'd seated herself on the roof. She had to get herself back under control. She seemed to have no concept of the notion when it came to being near Logan. It was something Rogue knew she had to work on, and soon, or she would find herself in a relationship with him without ever addressing the very serious issues that were keeping a real relationship from forming. The fact that she was even considering it after everything that happened showed how little willpower she had when it came to what her heart really wanted: Logan. The next time they had a chat, she would need to tell him that it wasn't going to happen. She had to convince him… and herself… or it might tear her apart.

"Hello, Senator," Rogue said dryly when she opened her cell.

"Mar-Rogue," Mystique greeted, correcting herself before she could finish saying the name she'd been forbidden to use. "How are you?"

"Alive, obviously," Rogue answered, her tone flat. "Though I _am_ now homeless and trying to determine my paternity, so I can't really say things are looking up all that much. Why are you still pretending to be Kelly?"

"If Kelly suddenly disappeared and it was looked into too deeply, all the good I've managed to do the past two years would have been for nothing. There are only a couple months left on my term in office anyway since I didn't run for re-election a few months ago." Mystique paused for a moment. "You don't have to leave the House. Eri-Magneto won't be there…"

"Whatever he told you, it doesn't mean he won't suddenly change his mind and show up," Rogue interrupted, slapping her open palm on the surface of the roof next to her. She used the temporary sting and the following warm rush of her healing factor to calm herself before she continued. "I just can't risk staying there anymore, Mother."

Rogue heard Mystique draw in a surprised breath at the name. It wasn't the loving appellation that 'Mama' had been, but it was a concession to their relationship Mystique probably hadn't expected her to make yet. But Rogue was already losing so much that she had to hold on to what little she could, no matter how mad she still was at her parent.

"Of course it's up to you," Mystique deferred, evidently choosing to graciously breeze past the issue of the new name. "Have you… are you dealing with what you learned?"

"I've sent my blood to be analyzed. Scott's going to compare the results to what Xavier has on file."

"I don't think Charles Xavier knowing…"

"He won't," Rogue cut her mother off once more. "Scott is my friend; he won't tell Xavier."

"I hope you're placing your trust well," Mystique responded. "For your sake."

"I hope so too," Rogue laughed hollowly. "But judging by my past choices, there's a good chance I'll be betrayed yet again."

"Marie…"

"No! Look, Mother, I realize you backed yourself into a corner hiding everything from me for so long. As long as you stop lying to me, I will forgive you eventually. I just need time to get used to knowing everything… and your permission to tell Kurt."

"You have it," Mystique answered quietly. "If you end up turning him against me, it would be nothing more than I deserve."

Rogue sighed. "I'm not going to, and I'd be surprised if that happened. From what I've observed so far, he's very religious. I have a feeling that forgiveness will be his first reaction. Anyway, you weren't the only one to lie to me; Emma and the Wolverine will eventually have to answer for what they've done as well."

"You'll have to tell me what the White Queen uses as an excuse. As for the Wolverine, well, I'll stay out of that one."

"Part of me wishes it was that simple for me, too," Rogue muttered.

She was angry with herself for not telling Logan that they would never be together because she knew about him and Jean. But part of her wasn't ready to let go of the man she'd loved so long and deeply… the man she still loved and probably always would. But even if she did give in to the temptation to be with him and bury her feelings of inadequacy and resentment at being second best… if that… she hadn't been lying when she'd told Logan it was too soon.

What she hadn't said was, 'You only lost your first choice a little over two days ago.' Or that if what was breaking her heart hadn't happened, it wouldn't have been too soon at all. It wouldn't have been too soon since shortly after they'd met, in fact. Rogue had felt like he was a part of her long before the first time her skin had touched his without a barrier. She wasn't sure she believed in love at first sight, but she had certainly been attracted when she'd seen him in that cage in Laughlin City, sweaty and shirtless in the hazy, smoke-filled air of the fight bar. The love she felt had first blossomed in his truck, when they communicated a lot about themselves in a few short sentences and longer looks. She still wondered to this day what might have happened if Sabretooth and the X-Men hadn't found them. It had solidified, grown roots in her heart and soul that could never be dug up, in their brief interlude on the train. Which of course had once again been interrupted.

Mystique had been silent while Rogue had been lost in her thoughts, letting the level of tension dissipate back to what it had been.

"Unless there's anything else important you need to tell me, I should go," Rogue said when she'd calmed. "It's getting cold out here."

"Nothing that won't wait another day or two," Mystique replied. "Goodnight, Rogue."

"Goodnight, Mother."

When Rogue had closed her cell phone and put it back in her pocket, she let out a long sigh. The phone conversation, the first one she'd had with her mother since they'd left Alkali Lake in separate company, had gone better than she had thought it would. There was still a lot of tension and obvious trust issues that they would have to work through, but Rogue was glad she'd been able to control her temper as much as she did. The last thing she wanted was to lose yet another person she loved.

Rogue?

Startled at being contacted telepathically by someone not the Professor, Piotr, Wanda or Pietro (or Emma, though that would have been more unexpected), it took Rogue a few moments to recognize the astral voice. Scott?

Are you busy? he asked.

A cold weight settled in her stomach. You don't have the results _already_, do you?

No, no, nothing like that, Scott was quick to assure her. I have a file the Professor asked for; I was wondering if you could deliver it for me.

Sure, Rogue agreed easily. She had a feeling Scott was afraid Xavier would try to pry, and she didn't blame him for avoiding his mentor for the time being. Are you in your office?

Scott answered in the affirmative, and Rogue flew down to the ground from her spot on the School's roof before heading inside. As she made her way through the building, she realized she must have formed a connection with Scott like the one she had with Piotr, Wanda and Pietro when she had communicated telepathically with him mere moments before touching him. It hadn't been on purpose, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. Rogue just hoped it wouldn't hinder Scott's healing process to have another psychic connection to lean on now that the one he'd shared with Jean for so long was gone. She collected a file folder from him in his office and asked if she'd see him that night in Piotr's room. Scott nodded absently, going through what looked like graded papers, and Rogue quietly left him to it.

She was grateful when she didn't run into anyone in the relative short distance from Scott's office to Xavier's. She really wasn't in the mood for polite, impersonal greetings from virtual strangers nor for the longer exchanges the few friends she had here would expect. When she reached her destination, Rogue noticed that the door was partially open, a two inch crack between the edge of the door and its frame. Since she was there on an errand from Scott (and really she'd been going into Xavier's office many times each day for a couple days already) Rogue pushed the door the rest of the way open and strode in confidently. Surprised, she slowed and then stopped when she realized there was someone sitting in one of the chairs in front of Xavier's desk.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rogue apologized. "I didn't realize you were in a meeting."

The man sitting facing Xavier turned his head just enough to look at Rogue. Her mouth fell open slightly as her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Remy?"

"Bonsoir, Rogue," the Cajun mutant greeted lightly.

"What are you doing here, Remy?" she asked firmly. "Have you come to line your pockets with anything not nailed down while pretending to consider leaving Magneto's employ?"

Rogue took note of Xavier sitting back in his wheelchair and watching the two of them converse with amusement in his gaze, but she was too busy trying to figure out Remy's angle to care much at the moment.

"Non, chere," he answered in his usual careless manner. "Just checkin' in with de Professor."

Rogue frowned, what this meant clicking into place. "You're spying on the Brotherhood. You have been for some time, if not from the beginning. It's why you were so nervous about me touching you when I needed to practice my control so long ago."

A Gallic shrug lifted his lean shoulders slightly.

"You can't honestly believe I won't tell them?" Rogue huffed and shook her head. "I may not be one of them, but Wanda and Pietro…"

"Don't matter none, chere," the Cajun interrupted. "Mystique already know, dat mean Magneto know too. Gambit have his uses for everyone involved. 'Sides, Gambit no longer spying at de House."

Xavier chose to join the conversation then. "We know that Magneto will not be back to the Brotherhood House for the foreseeable future. He has other plans that we have only vague hints about, but we do know that he has ceded control of the Brotherhood to Mystique. The followers he has now, the ones he hopes to add to greatly over the coming months, he calls his Acolytes. Once we know where some of them are, Mr. LeBeau will join them. Until then, he will be here at the School."

Rogue sighed softly before asking Xavier, "Is he going to be teaching? Should I tell one of the substitutes they're not needed?"

Xavier shook his head, "Mr. LeBeau may join in on Danger Room sessions with the older students, but he has no teaching credentials."

"Neither do I but I've been filling in as Scott's assistant," Rogue reminded him.

"And I appreciate all you've done," Xavier responded. "But things will be returning to normal now that a few days have passed and the more obvious signs of the invasion are taken care of. Is it important for the school's ability to maintain accreditation that only licensed teachers be officially on the books."

"And unofficially?" Rogue prodded.

"Now that Logan's staying and after what happened, we will be stepping up our self-defense lessons. All of the X-Men will be needed to train the children."

Rogue nodded but said nothing. She knew if she did, Xavier would end up trying to recruit her. She had a feeling he would eventually anyway, but as of right now he'd only do so if she gave him an in. With a sigh, she finally handed over the folder she'd come in his office to give him. When he took it and thanked her, she turned to leave.

Behind her, Remy asked Xavier, "We be done here?"

"For now, yes."

Remy trailed Rogue out of the room. She stopped and turned to stare at him when he began following her down the hall.

"You gonna show Remy around, chere?" he winked as he said it.

The Cajun had a way of turning almost anything into a double entendre. Rogue had become adept at laughing him off, but right now she was still too mad. She knew that none of the Brotherhood had ever fully trusted Remy because of his background and his habit of disappearing for days at a time, but he had still betrayed them. Betrayed her. God only knew what Remy had told Xavier about her time in the Brotherhood House. A lot had happened; to her, to her powers.

Before she could get too worked up, Rogue saw her escape coming down the hall from the opposite direction. "I'll let Storm have that dubious honor."

Remy glanced back at the weather witch. Rogue took his smirk at the white haired woman as agreement on his part and left.

_**To be continued…**_

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**Translation****:** _bonsoir_ is French for _good evening_


	28. Chapter 28

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** Oh look, it's been exactly a week (actually, this is hours earlier than I posted the last one)! Hmph, I've got nothin' else. Enjoy.

Oh, I suppose I should mention that this chapter earns its rating in the foul language department in one scene. What can I say? The Logan in my head has a potty mouth when he's mad.

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After taking his and Marie's dinner dishes to the School's industrial sized kitchen and then washing them himself when he realized the staff had already taken care of everyone else's, Logan wandered with purpose through the halls of the School. He headed in the direction of the dorms where the teenage female students were housed. It was the section closest to the teachers' rooms and the guest rooms, one of which he'd been housed in the first time he'd stayed here. He'd reclaimed the same room when he'd come back, and though he was headed there now, he'd taken a roundabout way so he could pass the room Marie had been assigned to share with Jubilee and Kitty. He doubted that she would have finished her call and gotten back here before him, but he had the urge to pass the place where she slept so he knew he was close enough to be there for her if something happened.

The door to the room was open, the lights off. Logan stood in the doorway, frowning when he noted the scents of Kitty and Jubilee as well as the lighter scents of previous visitors… but no trace of Marie. His eyes adjusted quickly to the lack of light in the dark-paneled room, and he glance around quickly. The room no longer held furniture for three. This room was definitely the domain of only two teenaged girls. Marie must have been moved in with someone else… perhaps the younger girl, Conchita, shared a room with her. In a way, Logan was glad. It meant she had more room. Being crammed into a room with two other people when your mutation disallowed casual touching had to be extremely stressful. Still, it made him nervous not to know where she spent her nights. He'd have to find out soon.

Realizing that sniffing through the halls himself to find it would be a little ridiculous, Logan continued on to his room. Retrieving a cigar from his bag, he headed back downstairs to go outside and have a smoke. He decided on his way down to head for the garage. He still hadn't unloaded Scott's motorcycle from the back of his truck.

Nearly an hour later… he hadn't been able to resist the urge to tinker with a loose part on his truck… Logan went back inside. He wandered aimlessly for awhile before spotting Piotr walking into a room down the hall. Thinking the other man might be interested in doing a session in the Danger Room, Logan followed him through the door that had been left open. The room they'd walked into was a library. As Logan approached Piotr where the younger man had paused in the act of sitting on a short couch, he caught the faded scents of both Piotr and Rogue coming from the furniture.

"You and Rogue hang out in here often?" he couldn't help asking the other man as he approached.

Piotr straightened, standing taller than Logan. "Yes."

"Not very talkative, are ya, bub?"

Piotr frowned, "I'd been led to believe you weren't either."

"Rogue tell you that?" Logan wondered aloud.

"No, Scott actually."

Logan snorted. "Figures."

His disdain of Scott seemed to upset the Russian, because Piotr's frown deepened and he crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest. "Was there something in particular you wanted?"

"Was just gonna see if you wanted to join me in the Danger Room," Logan nearly growled in response to Piotr's animosity.

He had a feeling if they did end up there together anytime soon, they'd be attacking each other instead of holographic enemies.

"Another time," Piotr answered. "It's been a long day, and not all of us have super healing."

Logan nodded shortly in acknowledgment.

"You seem to spend a lot of time with Rogue and Scott," he observed when the silence started to get tense.

"Scott needs to keep his mind off of things," Piotr shrugged. "And I always spend a lot of time with Rogue. She's my best friend."

Something about the defensiveness in Piotr's tone had Logan studying him more closely. The suspicions he'd already been having about the nature of Piotr and Marie's relationship grew.

"How _did_ the two of you get to be so close?"

"She needed someone would actually _stick around_ and be there for her," Piotr sneered, his accent thickening. "Some of us actually find her worth being near."

Logan bristled, "You don't know anything about it, bub."

"Maybe not," he conceded. "But I know _her_. She didn't deserve what you did to her with your leaving."

"You're in love with her," Logan observed.

Piotr's eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

"She's mine," Logan's feral side snarled warningly.

"Is that how it is?" Piotr shot back. "You only go after women who already have someone who loves them?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I know about you and Jean Grey."

"So I used to flirt with her, big fucking deal…"

Piotr glared. "You did more than flirt."

Logan was about to ask what the hell the other man was talking about, but Piotr's attention was suddenly drawn to the entrance of the library. Logan followed his gaze. Marie stood in the doorway, frowning at them. How much had she heard, and had she taken it the wrong way?

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Rogue stood in the doorway, wondering why Logan and Piotr were yelling at each other about Jean Grey. Well, she understood why Logan would be upset talking about her, but Piotr hadn't cared enough about Jean to be arguing about her. Granted, she'd only heard their argument from Piotr's accusation about knowing what had gone on between Logan and Jean… but Rogue didn't understand Piotr's animosity. Unless, of course, it was in defense of Scott. The two of them had become friends after Scott had circumvented Jean to send Rogue to Emma Frost in her time of need.

"Ma-Rogue," Logan caught himself as he spoke to her, not that he needed to (of course, he didn't know that), "we were just…"

"Don't worry about it, Logan," she interrupted. She didn't want to hear anything about it, honestly. "It was a private conversation and I didn't hear very much of it anyway. Piotr, I just came to let you know Remy's here." Piotr frowned in confusion, and she added, "You might want to go talk to Xavier about it."

He nodded and, with a wary glance at Logan, left the library. Rogue turned her attention back to Logan.

"You wanna go to the Danger Room, show me what you can do with all these powers of yours?" he asked her.

"I can't," she replied. "I'm not allowed in the lower levels."

"So you're not an X-Man," Logan observed. "Everyone I asked said you weren't, but you were so capable at Stryker's compound I thought for sure you had to be. And those blue-haired twins mentioned you had saved them, so I wasn't sure what to think. Are you on some kind of pre-X-Men training team?"

"No."

Before Logan could ask her any more, Rogue heard someone walking up behind her. She turned her head to see who it was, smiling slightly when she saw Scott. Her smiled died when she noticed the troubled expression on his face.

"What is it, Scott?"

"We need to talk."

Rogue heard Logan growl in exasperation on the other side of the room, but she nodded and followed the visored man. He led the way silently to his office, gesturing for Rogue to sit down. She did so, her stomach in knots. Though it had only been a couple hours since Scott had assured her it was much too soon to get her blood work back, she had a feeling that's what this was about. And considering she'd probably pulled it out of Scott's head through their connection, it was a strong feeling.

"Dr. McCoy is in the middle of some project, but instead of putting your blood work aside, he put a rush on it to get it out of the way. He faxed me the results about ten minutes ago."

Rogue swallowed around the knot in her throat. "He is, isn't he?"

They both knew who and what she meant.

"Yes," Scott answered succinctly.

"Oh, God," Rogue breathed out.

"Rogue, it isn't…"

"Scott, thank you for your help with this," she cut him off as she stood, "but I really need to be alone right now."

He didn't say anything as she left his office.

_Darlin', it doesn't mean anything_, the Logan in her head tried to ease her stress as she headed almost blindly down the hall to the office she had been using, shutting the door behind her.

Erik tried to get her to calm down as well, _Breathe, my dear_.

There was something in the way he said it that made Rogue think. A chill ran down her spine. Rogue closed her eyes and conjured an image of herself and the two men in her head into the astral arena of her mind. She immediately pointed an accusing finger at Erik.

"You knew!"

The grey-haired man, dressed as casually as he ever got in charcoal slacks and a cream-colored cable knit sweater, shook his head slightly. "Not until you did."

Feeling incredibly childish but completely justified, Rogue stomped her foot. "No! It's in the way you say 'my dear' to me. With that touch of affection. You've _always_ said it that way."

Erik's gaze faltered. Logan was watching the other man speculatively, his arms crossed over his broad chest. He was wearing what he had always worn in her head; the same jeans and layered-shirts-and-jacket outfit the real Logan had on when he'd allowed Rogue to climb into his truck just outside Laughlin City.

"I didn't know," Erik said more softly. "But I suspected."

"And you couldn't have warned me?!" Rogue wrapped both arms around her stomach, trying to suppress the urge to be sick. "Oh God, does _he_ suspect?"

"I do not believe so," he replied. "I did not begin to suspect until I had been a part of your mind for some time."

At least partially reassured, Rogue nodded curtly and then threw her consciousness back into the physical world.

But Erik wasn't done with her. _You knew I cared for you for some time, my dear. I wouldn't have wanted to remain in your mind if I did not… and you wouldn't have kept me if I did not fill a void in your life_.

Rogue froze at the implication that she had cast Erik in any sort of father figure role without realizing it. "I… I need to time to deal with this."

"With what?"

It took Rogue several long moments to realize she'd spoken aloud and that the voice that had answered her wasn't the Logan in her head, but the real one.

"What are you doing in here?"

Logan gestured to the door, "I knocked a couple times, but you didn't answer. I was worried."

Rogue frowned but let it go. "I'm fine."

"Then what is it you need time to deal with?" he asked, the frown not having left his face. "And who were you talking to?"

"One of the voices in my head… and it's personal."

"Marie…"

"Logan," she jumped in before he could say anything else. "I realize you're trying to become a part of my life again after being away for so long, but this really _is_ something I need to deal with myself. And you don't have to worry about me going crazy, I was able to find someone who helped me get rid of the voices I couldn't handle… well, actually, Scott sent me to her."

"I'm glad someone was able to help you," Logan said. "But why didn't Xavier do it?"

"I never gave him the chance to offer," Rogue answered honestly, then thought of Wanda and Pietro, her siblings and another example of Xavier's dubious and suspiciously-timed help. "And I'm not sure he would have, anyway. Xavier has a habit of only assisting with the powers of mutants he wants something from and only when he thinks he'll get it."

"I've noticed," Logan replied darkly. "And he doesn't always follow through."

Rogue was surprised. She had thought Logan had put more trust in Xavier than his words implied.

"Is that why you're not an X-Man?" Logan asked when she didn't say anything.

"It's part of it. I don't always agree with the way Xavier does things… and honestly, I never got along with Jean well enough to consider being on a team with her. You have to trust your teammates to be able to work together efficiently, and well… I didn't trust her."

Logan frowned, and Rogue berated herself internally for bringing Jean up so soon after he'd had a confrontation over her with someone else.

The feral mutant opened his mouth, but Rogue spoke before he could. "Forget I said that, I shouldn't speak ill of her. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, Logan. I need to find Kurt and then I'll probably head to bed. Goodnight."

_**To be continued…**_


	29. Chapter 29

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** There is some reference in this chapter to events from a comic book made to tell Nightcrawler's pre-X-2 story. All you really need to know is that he was raised by a family who are part of a circus in Germany. The daughter, Amanda, was a bit of an oblivious slut in the comic, but Kurt loved her (without ever telling her… well, _really_ telling her).

Also, this chapter is one week and a day after the last one, so it is well within the ten day timetable… and it would have been up last night, but I was having issues with FFN.

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Before Rogue could get too far in her search for Kurt, she ran into Storm and Remy. Almost literally in the case of the flustered-looking older woman. Remy simply stood beside her, grinning devilishly, when Storm stopped walking. Rogue was sure he had said something to Storm for her to look the way she did. For a moment she was surprised that even Remy would be able to affect her that way, but then she realized that there was no one in Storm's normal life who treated her first and foremost as a woman. She was always a protégé, a teammate or a teacher.

"Storm," Rogue asked, "do you know where I can find Kurt?"

The weather witch made a vague gesture with her usually graceful hands. "I believe he is in the private kitchen making a pot of tea."

"Thanks."

Rogue almost said something to the other woman about not letting Remy get to her, but the truth was that despite her agitation Storm looked a lot better than she had since Alkali Lake. More alive and in the moment. Maybe Remy's presence would prove a welcome distraction for at least one of them.

Her older half-brother was exactly where Storm had indicated he might be. He looked up from setting the tea kettle on the stove when she came into the room, giving her a friendly smile and nod.

A quick glance around showed that the refrigerator had been replaced and the bullet holes spackled, only awaiting a coat of paint to return the room to its pre-invasion condition.

"Hello, Rogue," Kurt greeted softly.

Rogue smiled nervously. "Hi. I need to talk to you about something… do you have a few minutes?"

"Of course." Kurt gestured to the two stools tucked under the counter-edge of the kitchen island. "Sit. I will join you as soon as the water boils."

She watched him silently as he went through the ritual of making tea, learning more about her half-sibling through the way he moved and the serene expression that never left his demonic features. Rogue could understand how someone seeing him for the first time would be frightened, think him a monster, but anything more than a minute in his presence under normal circumstances would change that. He was gentle, in some ways too gentle, especially if he was going to continue living here. Rogue ceased her rambling thoughts when he sat beside her, blowing lightly on the surface of his drink.

"What is it I can help you with?" he asked.

"Actually, I have some information for you," Rogue responded. "I'm not sure how to lead into this without just saying it, so I'm going to. I'm sure you remember Mystique from the mission… well, she's your mother. And mine."

Kurt blinked but did not otherwise react for more than a minute. Finally, he quietly observed, "When you called me your brother at Stryker's base, you were truly being literal."

Rogue nodded. "I had only found out the night before that it was biologically. I previously thought Mystique was only my adopted mother, she abandoned me when I was an infant, had her memories altered and then took me in when the man I thought was my father kicked me out when my mutation manifested."

"She abandoned me as well," he said quietly.

"She felt she didn't have a choice at the time. Your birth was difficult and her control slipped. The locals were trying to kill you both. She regrets it but believes there was no other choice."

Kurt's face was slightly troubled, but he nodded acceptance of Rogue's statement. "And our father?"

Rogue dropped her gaze for a moment. "We have different fathers. Mama was in hiding as a human and married to one when she had you, but he wasn't your father. The only thing I know about your father is that he looked a lot like you except that he was red."

Kurt was quiet for several minutes. Rogue stayed silent too, letting him sort through the information for himself. When he did speak again, he seemed to skip right over the topic and onto a new one.

"Do we have any other siblings?"

"Another half-brother about a decade older than you. Graydon Creed. He's human though and hates mutants. His father was Victor Creed, who you may hear about around here referred to as Sabertooth."

"Another mutant," Kurt observed more to himself than her. "And your father? Is he a mutant as well?"

Rogue shifted uncomfortably on the stool. "Yes."

Kurt must have noticed the tension in her voice and the true discomfort behind her fidgeting, because he didn't ask for more details.

"You said she adopted you," he eventually spoke. "I was adopted as well, by one of the trainers of the circus I am… was a part of. The woman who raised me had a daughter, Amanda…"

"But?" Rogue prodded, feeling that there was a story behind her brother's sudden pause.

Kurt smiled shyly, "But I did not have brotherly feelings toward her."

Rogue grinned slightly. "How does she feel about you?"

The mirth died from Kurt's dark face, and he ducked his head slightly. "I do not know. Before all of this… I thought I had shared my feeling with her and she had reciprocated, but I believe since seeing what was done to Professor Xavier that it was all part of what Stryker had done to me."

Rogue placed a gentle hand on his arm, "I'm so sorry."

Kurt patted her gloved hand with his bare, blue one before curling his thick fingers around her slender ones. "In a way I am grateful. I was able to know for a short time what it would be like to have Amanda's love. I will cherish the memory, no matter how it came to be."

"Have you contacted them to let them know you're okay?"

A shake of his head answered her before his words. "No, I cannot yet. The circus has only one phone and it is turned on solely when it is being used. And I am not ready to go back there and face them in person. The other scenarios that were shown to me in my time as a captive were not as pleasant. I wish to go back to my family with a clean heart."

"I understand," Rogue murmured. "But don't forget that you have family here in America, too."

Kurt tilted his head slightly. "You said that in an odd way. Are you not remaining here at the Professor's School?"

"No, I don't live here," she answered. "I've only been staying here to help out, but I'm not really needed anymore. If you want to get in touch with me, all you have to do is ask Piotr. He has all my contact numbers."

"You are leaving soon?"

Though she hadn't made a conscious decision about it before their conversation, Rogue nodded, "Tomorrow morning. And I would appreciate if you could keep our conversation between us. The X-Men know Mystique is my adoptive mother, so calling me your sister will be more then fine. I just prefer that the full details not be widely known just yet."

"Very well," Kurt acquiesced. "Is our mother willing to meet with me?"

"She will," Rogue assured, knowing it was true even if she didn't know _when_. "But right now she's undercover. You'll probably be told by one of the X-Men sooner or later that she's impersonating a Senator by the name of Kelly."

Kurt took a sip of his now lukewarm tea and asked, "Why?"

"It was the easiest and best way to accomplish her goals. One of which I agreed with and the other which is the reason she and I are somewhat estranged at the moment."

When silence reigned again for several minutes, Rogue thought their conversation might be over. But when he had finished his tea and rinsed his cup and the teapot, Kurt turned to her once more.

"Have you forgiven her for abandoning you?"

Rogue gave him a sad half-smile. "Not yet. But I'm working on it."

Kurt mirrored her expression and patted her shoulder gently. "Good night, mein Schwester."

"Gute nacht," she said softly.

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Rogue's sleep that night was plagued with nightmare images of running for her life, a small squirming bundle clutched to her chest. She knew the dreams came from her mother's memories. She had delved into them to provide Kurt with a few more details than Mystique had originally shared with her. Kurt deserved it. The price to Rogue was not much of a consideration. Considering the state of things, if she hadn't suffered Mystique's nightmares, they would simply have been replaced with someone else's.

She had told Piotr that night that she would be leaving in the morning. Though she was saddened that they would once more living apart, he had known it was coming. He had told her he was surprised she had even stayed as long as she had. Scott hadn't turned up until she had already been half asleep, so she hadn't had the chance to tell him. And though she knew it was a cowardly thing to do, Rogue had no intention of telling Logan.

At least not right away. She wanted to be able to partially settle in to what would now be her life before telling him the more incredible and controversial parts of her story. But she knew she had to tell him sooner rather than later if she wanted to be the one to give him all the details… the correct ones. Because although Jean was gone, Xavier and Storm were still potential usurpers of the truth.

And Xavier at the very least would turn events to his advantage, making Logan see Rogue's choices as… maybe not _wrong_, but certainly not what Xavier had thought was best at the time. Storm would be sure to go along with whatever Xavier told her to say or not say. Rogue wasn't sure how much Xavier's desire to have her as part of his team would affect what Logan was told.

With a sigh, Rogue climbed from the bed, careful not to wake the still-sleeping Piotr. Scott had already gotten up an hour ago and had long since left the room. Pulling the suitcases she'd never fully unpacked from beneath the bed, Rogue chose an outfit for the day and went into the in-suite to shower. There was a bathroom with a narrow shower stall in the apartment above Darkholme, but this was the last time she'd have access to a full-sized one and she intended to enjoy it while she could.

Piotr was still sleeping when she emerged, so Rogue quietly packed up what little of her stuff was lying around, placing a gentle kiss on her sleeping best friend's forehead. He knew she was leavin, and this was far from goodbye, so she let him continue snoozing. She'd probably kept him awake part of the night with her nightmares. Rogue made sure the alarm was set so he'd still get up in time for his classes before leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Doing a quick mental scan to find where them, Rogue made a stop in the dining hall to let Decipher and Conchita know she was leaving. She promised to do something with the two of them that weekend if all three of them were free. Kurt was in the room as well, so she made sure to go over and give him a careful hug. She reminded him once more that he could contact her through Piotr at any time. Her goodbyes finished with a brief mental message to the Professor about her departure, and Rogue made her way to the garage.

"You're leaving?"

Rogue turned to face Scott, who was sitting on the floor of the garage, slumped against the wheel well of one of the luxury cars a few spaces down from her Mustang. She walked over to stand in front of him, setting her suitcases down and extending a gloved hand in case he needed help getting to his feet. Releasing a defeated sigh, Scott accepted her hand and allowed her to pull him up.

"I have to," she answered gently once he was vertical.

Scott reached toward her with one hand, lightly holding her upper arm. "It's too dangerous, Rogue. With Magneto out…"

Rogue flinched at the mention of the metal manipulator but still cut off the concerned man in front of her. "Scott, I'm not going back to the House. There are rooms over Darkholme; I'll be staying there until I figure something else out. Wanda and Pietro have already moved most of my stuff there, and I'll find a way to get the rest without going back to the House. He's not even there since he believes Xavier would have already turned the location over to the authorities, but I won't be going anywhere near where he even might be. I'll be okay."

"You could stay here," he told her. "The Professor wants you to stay." Seeming to realize that thought wouldn't really mean anything to her, Scott amended, "I want you to stay."

A smile curved her lips but didn't quite reach her eyes, fading quickly. "I appreciate that, Scott, I really do, but I can't. I have responsibilities of my own, and I never fit here the first time. I doubt that's changed. And, although I am very sorry for your loss, you know about my issues with Jean. Having to be in a place where everyone is mourning her and expecting me to do the same on top of finding out about…" she trailed off, realizing she'd been about to say aloud what only a few people knew… and it really needed to stay between them… where anyone could overhear. "Well, things are far more complicated for me right now than they've ever been."

"I can't say I'm happy about it, but I understand," he responded. "If you need anything…"

Rogue stepped in closer to him and hugged him gently, whispering, "That goes double for you. Piotr's asked that I keep the link between he and I constantly open for at least the next week. If it's alright with you, I'd like to do the same with you. It'll just be enough for both of us to know the other is okay, I won't be invading your thoughts."

Scott, his arms still wrapped around her, nodded, Rogue feeling the movement against her hair. "I'd like that." He hesitated before adding, "If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to change our monthly check-ins to weekly, just until things settle down."

Realizing it would give him something to concentrate on as well as giving her the opportunity to see in person how he was doing with his grief, Rogue quickly agreed. Scott was still holding her, and Rogue reluctantly extracted herself from his grip.

"I have to go," she told him kindly but firmly.

"I'll see you Sunday, then."

Rogue nodded, adding, "You are more than welcome to come see me at any time. And I mean that, any time you might need a friend, I'll be there."

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Logan woke feeling uneasy. He'd dreamt, but couldn't remember the images that had haunted his sleep. Not that _that_ was anything new. Unable to shake the bad feeling, Logan headed down to the room everyone in the mansion gathered in for meals. He still hadn't discovered where Marie's room was, but was pretty sure he could catch up to her there. But a cursory examination of the dining hall proved him wrong. Perhaps she had already begun her tasks for the day. Between the help she was giving Xavier and Scott, Logan had no idea how she was getting her school work accomplished. Maybe the Professor had gotten her teachers to excuse her for the time being.

Logan frowned when he discovered she wasn't in the office she'd been temporarily assigned either. Standing stationary in the hall for long moments, Logan breathed deeply. Although it was too faint to be recent, direct scent trail, there was a more intense concentration of Marie's scent a few doors down the hall. The room's door was open, Scott sitting behind the desk inside.

"Where's Rogue?" Logan demanded as he entered the room without asking permission.

"Why are you asking me?" Scott responded.

Logan reined in his temper when he remembered what Scott had so recently lost. "Rogue's scent is fresh on you. I assume she was comforting you. Just thought you might know where she headed, but if not, I can look for myself."

"She's gone… to work."

Logan frowned. "On a school day?"

Confusion colored Scott's scent. "She's not a teacher."

"Of course she's not a teacher," Logan growled, getting frustrated. Was Scott's brain still muddled from Stryker's drug? "She's a student."

Scott's face went blank for long moments before he asked, "Exactly how young do you think Rogue is, Logan?"

"I don't know. Seventeen, eighteen?" Logan replied, thinking, 'Let it be eighteen, or at least close to it.'

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Scott shook his head. "Her birthday was a couple weeks ago, Logan. She just turned twenty-one."

"Twenty…" Logan started to echo. "But… before I left…"

"When we picked the two of you up, we wanted Rogue to feel like she was part of the school as quickly as possible so we could concentrate on what we thought were more important things, and like you, we assumed she was in her mid teens. If we had taken the time to talk to her a bit, we would have discovered our mistake, but Xavier was more interested in finding out why Magneto wanted you," Scott said, wondering privately how much things would have been different if they hadn't made that first mistake that had led to so many others and that was at least partially responsible for Rogue having left the school shortly after Logan had. "She was already nineteen then."

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Logan was floored. All that time he had spent away from her in order to let her grow up, which he had finally admitted to himself was more about letting her reach the age of consent before approaching her in that way than anything else, hadn't been necessary. She'd already been old enough when she walked into that bar in Laughlin City. He was a fool not to have just asked her before he had left.

Her owning her own motorcycle certainly made a lot more sense now. She could have been… probably _had been_… working the whole two years he was gone. But if her age wasn't a factor, why _wasn't_ she an X-Man?

"Where does she work?" he asked when he realized a couple minutes had passed while he'd stood in shocked silence.

"Darkholme," Scott answered. "It's a bar and…"

"I know, I was there before this whole mess happened," Logan cut him off.

Scott frowned, "Did you see Rogue there?"

Logan nodded before turning to head for the door. Scott's voice stopped him.

"Logan, where are you going?"

"To Darkholme," he answered slowly, as if afraid that Scott's intellect would not be able to comprehend the words.

"They're closed," Scott told him. "They will be until the most recent swell of anti-mutant sentiment dies back down. They're too well known as being mutant sympathetic to risk it."

Logan sighed and turned back around to stare at the other man. "Then why is she at work?"

"Probably doing inventory or something," Scott answered.

Logan narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out why Scott would lie… and which part he was lying about. He could smell it on the younger man.

"What's going on?" he growled tightly.

Scott shook his head. "A lot has changed in two years, Logan. It's Rogue's place to talk to you about it if she wants you to know. Just give her a little time, she's been through a lot recently."

"We all have," Logan snapped.

"True, but…" Scott sighed. "Just trust me for once, Logan, please."

"Fine," he snarled. "But if I don't get some answers soon…"

Logan let Scott fill in the blanks of the threat on his own.

**_To be continued…_**


	30. Chapter 30

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** Well, for some reason this chapter was hard for me to write. I was also without internet for awhile, and had to deal with some personal and family issues, so this is up quite late. Sorry, but there wasn't really anything I could do about it. Next chapter should be up "on time."

CaptMacKenzie suggested I do less disruptive breaks for point-of-view change so they don't look like scene changes, so I'll just be doing a single "x TDL x" left-justified in this chapter where just the POV changes (just once in this chapter)… my full breaks will remain for scene changes, though these will only be one line instead of two. Let me know how it works (any of you who have an opinion, but only if you're already leaving a review… I'd rather not have a bunch of reviews that are just about line breaks, lol).

**A Special Thanks****:** Sorry for not responding to reviews to chapter 28, I was very tired when I put up 29 and I knew I wouldn't do the responses justice, so a huge thank you to all my reviewers from two chapters back… as well as to those who review anonymously; I can't reply to your individual reviews here (don't want to get kicked off FFN), but know I appreciate and cherish each one.

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The same morning Logan learned about Marie's real age and her source of income, Xavier began in earnest to try to talk Logan into joining the X-Men officially. At first Logan brushed him off, telling the other man that if he was really needed, he'd help out on a situation by situation basis. But that was apparently no longer enough for Xavier. He pointed out to Logan that with Jean gone and Storm and Scott hurting from her loss, _most_ of what was left of the team could not be counted on to be at their best. When Xavier kept pushing, Logan pushed back, asking why… if the team was so hard up for members… 'Rogue' wasn't allowed to join.

"I'd rather not discuss someone else when asking for your commitment to the team, Logan," Xavier had hedged. When Logan had given the other man a _look_, the wheelchair-bound man added, "Rest assured that it is not any choice of mine that is keeping Rogue from being a member of the X-Men."

Logan had brushed the other man off, telling Xavier he'd think about it. And he would… _if_ it meant being near Marie. Which didn't seem to be something that Xavier could guarantee.

Xavier had told him there would be a meeting that afternoon just to get everyone caught up on everything. When he mentioned that the meeting would not be for just the X-Men but the older students as well, Logan had agreed to make an appearance thinking that even if Marie wasn't a student, she'd still be included if those younger than her were. After all, he did prefer to know what was going on when he was stuck in any given situation. And his time at the School, though limited, had always been interesting… to put it mildly.

Now Logan was taking a leisurely walk around the grounds, trying to figure out a way to get Marie to tell him what was going on. Every time he tried the direct approach here at the School, it seemed like something interrupted them. He really needed to get her alone, away from everyone else. It would be perfect if he could take her somewhere after she was done with work, but there were a few problems with that scenario.

She'd already told him that going out somewhere in public had to be put on hold for awhile, and Logan didn't have a way to get a hold of her to see if she could think of anywhere that it _wouldn't_ be a problem for them to be. Without asking her, he had no idea when she'd be done with her work at Darkholme. And he certainly didn't want to drive her even further away by acting like a stalker and hanging out in front of the closed club until she came out.

Maybe he could get Darkholme's number from Piotr since the Russian worked there too. He just hoped the other man wouldn't refuse to give it to him because of Piotr's own feelings for Marie. Just the thought made Logan bristle, but could he really blame someone else for seeing in Marie at least part of what he did? In any case, since Piotr was a teacher at the school… of art, ironically enough given the lie to Bobby's parents about Logan's connection to the school… Logan would have to wait until the lunch break to talk to him. With a heavy sigh, Logan headed for his room to get a cigar. Might as well take advantage of the childfree out of doors while he could.

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Rogue parked her Mustang behind Darkholme, sighing in relief when she saw her motorcycle already waiting. Pietro must have driven it over for her. Wanda was too wary of the machine to ride it alone. She was very lucky to have friends like them, she acknowledged once again. If she didn't, her life would be an even bigger mess than it currently was. Rogue climbed from her car, locked the door, and retrieved her luggage from the trunk.

She made her way to the double-doored service entrance, locking it behind her once she was inside. Rogue ignored the stairs leading up to the finished but unfurnished apartment above the club and went into the area just off the kitchen where the main phone hung over a table with pens, tablets of paper and a planner. Beside the phone was a corkboard with the delivery schedule as well as the scheduled shifts for Darkholme's employees for last week and the next two. Rogue made a mental note to tally up the hours for the past week and fax them over to the small accounting firm that took care of payroll and the business' other financial needs. She could then have everyone come in on Thursday to pick up their checks as usual. Maybe by then she'd even know when Darkholme would reopen and could tell them when to start coming in for work again.

Picking up the phone, Rogue dialed the club's voicemail and punched in the code, angling a notepad to take down any important messages. A few of her employees and several regulars had all called asking to be notified when Darkholme would be open again, and Emma Frost had left a message asking Rogue to come by and let her know the details of what had happened on the mission to stop Stryker. Apparently Emma had felt some of what had happened via the astral plane and was worried. The woman didn't know it yet, but that wasn't all she had to be worried about. Rogue pressed the button to delete that message with a bit more force than necessary.

Rogue returned her employees' calls then, leaving messages for most of them. She set the regulars' numbers aside to call them in the evening when they were more likely to be home. After tallying hours and faxing them in as well as making sure there were no deliveries scheduled for that day, Rogue decided she'd put off going upstairs long enough. For a moment she considered floating her suitcases up the stairs by their metal zippers, but the mood she was in wouldn't guarantee she'd be able to concentrate enough to ensure the zippers wouldn't get ripped out of their seams.

In the one bedroom apartment… on the small side because it had only been built over the back section of the club and didn't run the length of the whole building… Rogue was pleasantly surprised to find that Wanda and Pietro had brought over more than just her clothes and other belongings. The bed and desk from her room at the House were also there, though the bed was not put together. The desk made sense since it had the locking drawer where all of her personal information was kept, but the bed was just a nice gesture from them since it meant she wouldn't have to buy one before night fell.

Setting her two suitcases outside of the closet… the floor of which was filled with boxes and bags she assumed the twins had packed her clothes into… Rogue turned to go downstairs to look for tools to put the bed together. She stopped when she realized that though the head- and footboards were wood, the screws that attached them to the bed frame were metal. She could use the task to practice on her concentration when working with smaller objects. An hour later, she'd put the bed together and positioned it and the desk how she wanted them. She was working on the closet… because of its much smaller size compared to the one at the House she was going to have to get a dresser for some of her clothes… when she heard the phone ring downstairs. Flying to save time, Rogue picked it up on the third ring.

"Darkholme," she answered, truly realizing for the first time as she did that her club's name was her name as well.

She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Thank God her mother had never married Magneto. Darkholme was one thing, Lensherr something else entirely.

"Hello, Rogue," the Professor's voice greeted her.

Rogue rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to lean her hip against the counter. "Hello, Professor Xavier. Is there something I can help you with?"

"That is why I was calling, I'm afraid." There was a pause before he continued. "Storm was called away for a few days and I'm afraid I need to ask for your help while she's gone. You did an exemplary job the past several days. I realize you have your own responsibilities, so all I ask is a few hours early in the day for a few days. There is no need for you to stay all day."

Stifling a sigh, Rogue answered, "Sure, I'll be there in a few hours and you can tell me more. I have some things I need to take care of first."

"Of course," came the easy reply. "Thank you, Rogue. We look forward to having you here again."

Rogue made a non-committal noise and hung up. She had hoped to have at least a full day to settle in, and she had to wonder whether Xavier had lied to her. Had Storm been called away, or had she been _sent_ away? With a sigh, Rogue reached for the phone. She might as well place a quick call to her mother before she went back upstairs to finish her current task so she could head to the School.

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"Will she do it?" Storm asked as Xavier set the phone down.

She had been worried that her departure during this tumultuous time would be more than the Professor would be able to handle. Her classes could be covered with little difficulty by the substitutes they kept on call in case of missions interfering with the school schedule, but the overall running of the School was too much for anyone unfamiliar with it to take on without training. And without Jean… Storm tamped down on the grief that tried to swell in her, knowing letting it go would result in unfortunate weather… and with Scott mourning her loss, the staff was more off-balance than she could ever remember it being. But her sister… a foster sibling but no less loved for it… had sounded so urgent and worried, Storm knew she had to go to Africa and find out what was going on. Perhaps while there she could also find the balance she so desperately needed.

"With some reluctance, but yes," her mentor responded. He looked at her over steepled fingers with a fatherly expression. "You need not worry about us; just take care of your family matter. We will be here when you get back."

"Are you sure you do not wish for us to wait until after this afternoon's meeting to leave?" Storm asked.

She would be flying the Blackbird to the remote village where her sister lived, Remy going with her to fly the jet back to the School after dropping her off. Storm already knew what would be covered in the meeting, as did Remy, but she thought it might be a better idea for at least Remy to actually be there for it.

"I'm sure," Xavier said. "It may even be a blessing for Mr. LeBeau not to be here when the others learn of his true position. Though it was done with the best intentions, not everyone accepts deception the first time they learn of it. Especially when emotions are already high."

Storm accepted the older man's wisdom with a nod, "You may be right, Professor. Now I must go finish packing."

She stood to leave, but paused. Her earlier thoughts about Jean had made her realize there was another position that needed filling.

Her voice was soft when she said, "You need to think about finding a resident physician. Not only for emergencies arising from missions, but for the general well-being of the student body."

Xavier nodded, "I have been thinking about that. Due to Hank McCoy's recent… _difficulties,_ I believe he may now be more receptive to my standing offer to join the staff."

Jean had been a geneticist who had taken on other medical issues when necessary, but Hank's superior intellect had allowed him to further study many schools of medicine. He had always been Xavier's top pick for resident physician, but the other man had preferred to continue studying while conducting various experiments. But now one of those experiments had gone wrong, on Hank himself no less, and Xavier knew Hank's ensuing lack of self-confidence would make him grateful for the offer. Storm had the feeling Xavier would make the call as soon as she left the room.

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Mystique stared at the phone on Senator Kelly's desk. If it wasn't for the fact that her secretary's jewelry had made loud clanking noises when she had entered the room, the receiver would probably still be pressed to Mystique's ear. The other woman's brief presence had pulled her out of her trance enough that she had set the phone down, but she'd gone back into shocked mode when the secretary had left ten minutes later. The reason for her current state of ennui was a short, rather terse phone call from her daughter.

Marie had simply told Mystique that the results had come back and she was indeed the biological daughter of Erik Lensherr. She had then warned Mystique that she needed time to deal with it, and that she'd prefer if Mystique waited for her to make contact before they spoke again. Marie hadn't even given her a chance to respond, hanging up as soon as she had relayed her message.

While Mystique was frustrated that this was yet another thing that was going to keep her daughter from her, she had to admit she was glad. The man she had left Marie with, the human who had been the girl's other potential father, had not been much of a man, even by the low standards Mystique had for non-mutants. It made sense that Marie, as powerful as she was, as she _could be_, was the daughter of two mutants and not a mutant and a human, despite the fact that Mystique's union with Victor Creed had resulted in the birth of a disturbingly ordinary man.

Now Mystique's only real problem was how far she wanted to push the strains of her bond with Marie. Erik had a right to know he had another child. Despite the fact that Marie had told Mystique not to mention anything to him when it had only been a chance, she had not reinforced that order now that she _knew_. Mystique by no means thought this meant Marie had changed her mind about Erik being informed, but she could claim innocence _if_ she told Erik before Marie could restate her resolution that her father not know of their blood tie. And she knew that Marie would let the discretion slip more easily than she might otherwise have done since she had so recently had her world once more turned upside down. Marie would be too afraid of losing everything and everyone she had left to deliberately push Mystique away completely. So it was make the call now or chance losing Marie forever.

Mystique's hand… out of necessity still in Kelly's form… shook as it reached for the phone. Marie wasn't the only one with a volatile nature in this situation. Mystique had been there when Erik had finally learned that his children with his dead wife had indeed been born and raised as someone else's. She knew what it had meant to him when he'd found out that Xavier had known and chosen not to share the information. There was a very real chance that Erik would be furious with her for keeping even the chance that Marie was his from him.

On the other hand, because of his past with her, he might not care… or at least make it seem as if he didn't. There was no doubt in Mystique's mind that Erik would use Wanda and Pietro to his own advantage despite them being his children, but she wasn't sure it would go as far as he had been willing to go in sacrificing Marie to his… ultimately useless… machine. Would knowing who she really was make Erik more or less likely to try to use Marie in the future? Mystique didn't know, but she _did_ have to tell him. If for no other reason than on the off chance that it would someday make a difference in one of their lives.

"Erik," she greeted in her own voice when the other end was picked up after the first ring, "we need to talk."

**_To be continued…_**


	31. Chapter 31

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** I've been sick on and off and very busy with family stuff (refinancing is a nightmare), but I wanted to get a chapter to you before New Year's. This chapter took a lot longer to write than it should have, but Magneto was being difficult. I have part of the next chapter already written, so I hope to get it up in the first week of the New Year.

Forgive my skewing (if you can call it that given the variety of histories out there) of Magneto's wife Magda's history. I've read several versions: one where she and Anya _both_ died in the Holocaust (instead of just Anya), another where Magneto didn't develop his powers until later (and immediately went bad) and that's when she left him, a version where she gave birth to the twins after leaving him and then wandered off to die and he later found her body, and yet another where he didn't find out for sure until years later that she _had_ died (both of these last two have him ignorant of the twin's existence until they're pretty much adults). It is this last version I am using since it fits best with what I've already said in the story and what I say in this chapter.

Also, someone asked me if I would be including all of Magneto's offspring. For anyone else who may have wondered, the answer is no. In my universe, Lorna doesn't exist (or if she does, there's no relation).

Please note that when I first posted the previous chapter, Logan's thoughts said that the meeting of the X-Men and the "junior team" would take place the next afternoon. I meant for it to be _that_ afternoon (which was how it was said in Storm's section). The mistake has since been fixed.

Also, a special thank you to anonymous reviewer Stephanie for the German translation offer, but FFN cut your email address out of the message, so I have no way of getting in touch. Mine's spideegrrl77 at yahoo dot com if you'd like to contact me directly, though my other email, artemis underscore 94066 at yahoo dot com tends to work more consistently.

So ends the Author's Note that wouldn't stop… enjoy the chapter. Happy Holidays, everyone!

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Magneto fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose when Mystique's opening remark was followed by a shuddering of the walls. Another of the new recruits must have challenged the Blob. He really needed to tell them… or have Pyro do so in his position of right hand man while Mystique was otherwise occupied… that there was to be no fighting amongst themselves unless it was during training that _he_ sanctioned. It was hard enough finding places that would hold all of them without having to move when a location became structurally unsound because it had been subjected to mutant powers it wasn't made to withstand.

Right now he was almost glad he couldn't risk going to the Brotherhood House. It was one of the nicest places he owned, and he wouldn't subject it to most of the miscreants currently following him as his Acolytes. But though he would never consider more than a handful of them… those intelligent and cultured enough to be consider even partially civilized… his true followers, he needed all of them for the time being. He had a few potential plans, but he needed to get a better picture of the current state of things before he could move forward with any of them. And the more henchmen he had to act as cannon fodder between himself and Xavier's X-Men … along with whomever else might decide to stand in his way… until then, the better.

"Is this important?" he unintentionally snapped at the shapeshifting woman on the other end of the line.

Instead of making a sarcastic remark over the quality of his current followers and his need to keep an eye on them twenty-four seven, she simply replied, "Yes."

The single word wasn't frustrated or angry or sarcastic, in fact it was the most timid he'd ever heard her. Something inside him tensed. Although they'd had disagreements in the past and occasionally their own agendas that caused more long-term separations, Mystique was the only person he really considered a close friend and a true comrade at arms. They'd been more, and less, in various points in their acquaintance, but it had been years since he had worried about her separating herself from him more fully. Even when she had been playing house with Irene and Rogue, he knew if he needed her all he had to do was call. With everyone else, there were differences of philosophy (or a complete lack thereof in a lot of the people who had worked for him over the years, just look at Sabretooth) or the way they chose to show their support for their beliefs or even incompatible levels of intelligence. Mystique fit with him in a way few others in his life ever had… and she was the only one left who he even halfway trusted.

"Well?" he prompted when she didn't continue, only partially failing to sound more even.

There was silence from the earpiece for long moments. Well, not true silence. He could hear Mystique breathing as well as a ticking that had to be a clock on or near Senator Kelly's desk… at this time of day on a weekday, it was the only place she would be calling from. Losing what little patience he had, Magneto was about to ask her to either talk or let him go when she cleared her throat.

"M-Rogue is twenty-two years old," she said in an odd tone.

"How nice for her," Magneto responded dryly. He added mentally, 'And what would make you think I would care?'

His own children were twenty-four if he remembered correctly. Perhaps Mystique was feeling older… despite the fact that as far as they could tell her ability kept her fairly young and gave her potentially a couple more decades before she would be out of her fertile years… now that her youngest had passed all the ridiculous legal standards that labeled someone an adult. He didn't see how that was important enough to call _him_ about, but despite the fact that he could usually understand Mystique's logic in most things, she _was_ a woman and therefore as a man there were undeniably some things he would never understand.

"Erik," Mystique chided softly, words she wasn't saying trailing in the quiet.

She and Charles were the only ones allowed to call him that. Pyro had tried once when Mystique had first parted from them, but Magneto had shot a look quelling enough for the teenager to stop before he'd even gotten to the second syllable. And even though she was allowed it, Mystique rarely took advantage of the privilege, knowing that like her he preferred the name he'd chosen for himself. It was only when things were personal that she used the name his long-dead parents had given him.

"I apologize, my dear," he said, injecting enough steel into his tone to let her know that he was _not_ groveling and if she didn't watch herself, there would be consequences.

"Do you remember that we were together for several months after you gave up looking for Magda the first time?"

The walls shuddered again and something in another room crashed. Magneto gritted his teeth and counted to five silently. Mystique seemed determined to touch on every forbidden subject that existed during this single conversation. The only reason he wasn't lighting into her for it was that she was touching on each topic without actually _saying_ anything.

"Could you get to the point?" he practically hissed when another awkward pause stretched the phone lines.

He heard her suck in a breath, and then…

"Rogue's not just my daughter, she's _yours_, too."

For a moment Magneto thought Mystique had hung up directly after dropping her bomb; not only were there no more words being spoken, there were no breathing sounds nor ticking of the clock… but there was no dial tone coming from the receiver pressed to his ear either. He pulled it away to look at it with a puzzled frown… discovering what was wrong with the phone was a much safer and less complicated problem to deal with than Mystique's revelation.

It was only after attempting to turn the phone on and off several times that he realized something really was wrong with it. Reaching out with his power, he found the problem. He'd unwittingly used his ability on the device; every little metal piece inside of it was now a tightly crumpled mess. Magneto's jaw clenched. He hadn't lost control since he'd been an adolescent.

The building shook yet again. Magneto surged to his feet and made an impatient gesture with one hand, sending the damaged phone flying across the room and into a wall so that when it came to an abrupt halt, its outer appearance reflected its inner state. He began striding out of his private office. He would deal with the rabble, and then he would decide what action, if any, he should take now that he knew his progeny numbered three and not two. His fists clenched as he wondered if Charles had known about this child as well.

Magneto strode into the main room, which happened to be the common gathering place due to it being the largest room in the building. He was gratified when most of the mutants gathered stopped what they were doing the second he came into the room, the rest falling silent and still when he leveled a glare on the group in general. He made a mental note of which ones didn't meet his eyes as well as the ones that narrowed their own gaze when they thought he wasn't looking anymore.

He might be leader, but that didn't mean there weren't those who would take his place in an instant if they could. They were the ones he needed to keep the closest watch on. They couldn't be trusted with truly important tasks, though keeping them occupied was a must. A powerful surge went through him when he imagined how much easier it would be to keep control if his youngest stood at his side willingly. It was unfortunate that his past plans and actions had made that highly unlikely, if not outright impossible… she would be one of the most formidable weapons in existence if properly trained.

His gaze fell on Pyro, who was also glaring at some of the other mutants gathered in the room. Magneto's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and when Pyro looked his way, he gestured for the younger man to follow him.

"Tell me everything you know about Rogue," Magneto commanded once they were alone in his office.

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When Logan stepped into the garden off the mansion's smaller kitchen to light his cigar, it was to find another smoker already taking advantage of the outdoors. The slim stranger was sucking on a cigarette, red on black eyes tracking Logan as he joined the other man. Moments later he realized the guy wasn't as much of a stranger as he had first thought.

"You're that guy who tried to get between me and Rogue at Darkholme," he said, pointing accusingly with his now lit Cuban. "I think she called you Rem."

"Remy LeBeau," he introduced himself, "or Gambit if you prefer. Gambit didn't know you be the Wolverine when he first see you, homme. Just tryin' to protect the chere."

Logan bristled at the Cajun's relaxed approach to what-to him at least-was a very serious subject. "Yeah, well, now you do know, bub. And protectin' her is _my_ job, so back off."

"Gambit think that be for the belle femme to decide. Maybe she get tired of you following her around while Gambit take Stormy to Africa."

Logan frowned at the casual mention of a trip that was news to him. "Storm's going to Africa?"

With Xavier's concerns about the state of the X-Men, he would have thought the team's benefactor would not be encouraging travel for its remaining members. Unless it was some kind of mission… perhaps to recruit other mutants.

The flamboyant man shrugged loosely. "For a few days. The Professor letting her go take care of a family matter."

Logan nodded acknowledgment and smirked, "That why you're here? You Chuck's travel agent?"

Remy grinned devilishly and, after doing something to it that made it glow, flicked his half-smoked cigarette into the open air in the opposite direction. It became a small explosion before it had the chance to hit the ground. Logan scowled slightly at the ostentatious move but refused to show any surprise.

Shrugging again, Remy answered, "Just helping Stormy and the Professor. Gambit staying at the School until his next mission. Not welcome at the House no more, though now that Rogue not be living there either, the view not quite so nice."

"What house?" Logan frowned.

"Remy," Marie's voice cut in before the other man could answer. "I understand you're not leaving for a couple hours, but Storm needs to talk to you now. She's waiting in the kitchen."

Logan had turned to look askance at Marie, so he didn't see Remy's response to Marie's interruption aside from the Cajun's departing back.

"Marie?" he asked when he was sure they were alone. "What was he talking about? Did you move out for awhile and then decide to come back? Is that why you're not in the same room anymore?"

She smiled a little sadly and gestured to his cigar. "If we're going to talk, do you think you can put that out?"

"Sure, darlin." He moved automatically to put it out on his palm like he had when in Cerebro with Xavier, but Marie stopped him by grasping his wrist.

"Please don't hurt yourself for no reason," she said softly, dropping her hand from his arm. "Why not just cut off the tip?"

Logan did as she suggested without responding verbally, making sure to smother the still-burning piece that fell to the ground with the heel of his boot. Marie gestured toward a bench set several feet away from the building, and they walked toward it together. Logan made sure to leave space between them when he sat, thinking after their last tension filled conversation outside that it might be safer that way.

"I guess the first thing I should tell you is that I don't live here," she said after a slow, heavy sigh. "I haven't since a couple weeks after you left."

Logan's head reared back slightly with his surprise. "Why didn't you stay? I left you here because Chuck promised to take care of you for me." He frowned when he thought of something, "Did you know you weren't going to stay when I left?"

"Yes," she answered his last question first. "Maybe not _when_ I'd leave, but I knew I wouldn't stay forever. They treated me like a child, one they'd gotten stuck with instead of chosen. And maybe it was selfish of me to feel like I shouldn't have to deal with that, but it was still my decision to make. And with how many homes I've been forced into and out of in my life, I wanted to make a choice for once."

Logan gave a warm pat to the knee closest to him in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "That's not the kind of selfish to be ashamed of. It's what you needed to do for you, for your life. But… would you tell me about before, about the things that made it necessary for you to be on your own when we met… that made you feel you couldn't stay?"

Marie sighed sadly before she began speaking, "My father… or at least the man I thought was my father… kicked me out when I was thirteen and my mutation manifested the first time. Luckily I was adopted quickly into a loving home. But circumstances forced my foster parents to have to leave me behind when I was sixteen. When they left, in order to protect me, they had my memories altered and injected me with a drug that would suppress my mutation. It manifested again when I was nearly eighteen, and I overheard the family that was taking care of me when they were discussing whether to just kick me out or turn me over to the police. So I left. I didn't have much, and there were plenty of times when I stayed in one place for weeks or even a couple months when I needed to find work. I was on the road for a little over a year when we met."

There was a lot in what she had said that Logan wanted to know more about, but he left it for another time, thinking that if it were the focus of this conversation, Marie would have already expanded on it. Instead, he moved on to the time when they'd first come to the School, when he'd still been unconscious from his fight with Sabertooth.

"Why didn't you tell the X-Men how old you were when they brought us here?" he asked.

Marie shook her head slightly. "They didn't give me a chance. They were so sure you were the one Magneto was after that they wanted to concentrate on you and how he might have been planning to use you. They assigned me a room, gave me a class schedule, and let one of the students give me a tour. I wasn't a priority. And frankly, I was afraid of making waves and having them kick me out before I found out if you were okay. As long as I was a student, they had a reason to keep me."

"If I had been awake…"

"Things would have been so much different," Marie finished the thought.

Something in her tone made Logan frown. "You wouldn't have wanted that?"

"At the time I would have given anything for it to have happened that way," she admitted. "Especially if it meant I could have gone with you when you left. But a lot has happened since then. And although some of it was painful, physically and emotionally, there were other things that made everything else worth it. Things I wouldn't have changed for the world."

"Like what?"

"Like meeting Piotr, helping Decipher and Conchita, making the friends that I have, and learning what little control I was able to."

Logan's lips parted and his eyebrows shot up in surprise at that revelation. But he knew he had to tamp down on the excitement welling within him at the thought of being able to touch Marie skin to skin. "Little" could mean a lot of things. And he might even be jumping to conclusions. She could just mean the control she'd already exhibited as having over the powers she'd absorbed… though that had seemed like more than a "little" bit of control to him. She'd even managed to impress Magneto, something he had a feeling was not easily done.

"What _kind_ of control?" he asked as gently as he was able.

His excitement didn't mean he wouldn't want to be with her if it wasn't what he hoped. Logan had already thought of many ways they could be together while protecting both of them from the pain of her touch, his physical and hers, more importantly, emotional. She was worth any precaution, any effort. But he knew how much it would mean to her to be able to touch without the fear of hurting the one she was connecting with.

Marie swallowed visibly and looked down, fiddling with one finger of her left glove. When she looked up again, she turned her torso so she was facing him with more of her body than just her face.

"You can't tell anyone," Marie pled. "Only Piotr, the twins and Scott know, and Scott only partially knows, so…"

"I won't say anything," he assured.

Marie nodded and took a deep breath. "I've been training to get it to last longer, but I seem to have reached a plateau of fifteen minutes. And it's not _real_ control; I still have to take _something_. Usually it's that person's power and I discard…"

"You can touch?" Logan cut in to cease Marie's nervous rambling.

A shaky nod and a shrug. "Only for a short time and only while I'm taking…"

"I heard ya, darlin," he soothed, scooting closer. "Can I ask for a hug?"

Marie blinked, a small frown forming. "You don't need to touch skin to hug me."

Logan shifted on the concrete bench, carefully lifting one leg over to straddle it and scoot closer to her. He reached up after removing his gloves and gently eased Marie's hair away from her face. "Are you controlling it?"

Marie sucked in a short, sharp breath and said quietly, "I am now."

Slowly, he relaxed his hand so that while his fingertips remained within the safety of her hair, his fingers and palm flattened and then curved to cup her cheek and jaw. Happiness speared his heart when Marie leaned into the touch, her eyelids falling to half-mast. Had she wanted that as long as he had?

Her skin was even softer than Logan had imagined, and his eyes automatically dropped to her full lips with the thought that maybe they were too. But he had only asked for a hug and until they cleared up a few more things, it would probably be best not to go that far. If anyone had suggested before he had met her that kissing would be considered "far," he would have scoffed. But Marie was more important than any other woman in his memory. She wasn't just a random body he wanted to sate his own needs with, or even a challenging conquest like Jean might have been if not for his feelings for Marie.

She was the only one he loved, the only one he considered more important than himself in every way that mattered. Every moment, every tiny step in the direction he hoped they would go, was more special and anticipated than anything else had ever been. There were still parts of him that wanted everything at once, of course, but the rest of him… mostly the heart Marie had made him realize he did, in fact, have… was committed to staying the course. As soon as she let them start down it.

Dragging his thoughts back to the moment at hand, Logan slid his hand down to Marie's neck. He moved it to gently cup the nape of her neck after taking a moment to feel her pulse against his palm, the sensation of her life's blood flowing beneath his touch a powerful one. With only the lightest pressure, Logan pulled her closer. Her chin skimmed his shoulder, finding a comfortable spot once their bodies had met. Logan closed his eyes, shutting down his visual perception so that he could concentrate on his other senses. The only one he truly wanted to use right now was touch, but there wasn't really a way to turn his nose or ears 'off.'

So though he enjoyed hearing the steady beat of Marie's heart and breathing in her warm, comforting scent, the thing he truly reveled in was the feel of her in his arms. Her body against his. Her soft cheek pressed against his ear and unshaven cheek. A hug was such a simple thing to most people. But neither of them was normal by any stretch of the imagination. He preferred to keep people at arm's length because of the inability to trust he'd woken with seventeen years ago. And Marie had more than just her skin as a reason to expect people to abandon her. Much sooner than he had expected, Marie tensed and shifted her body weight away from him.

"Logan, you need to let go. Now," she said urgently.

He eased away immediately at her tone, but he couldn't keep the tinge of regret from his own, "That wasn't fifteen minutes."

Her eyes slid away from his gaze. "It's harder to maintain control when I'm… distracted. It's something I'm working on."

Logan nodded understanding when she was once more looking at him. He pulled his gloves back on, knowing she would feel more comfortable with the extra layer despite the fact that her own hands were already more than adequately covered. He started to lace their fingers together as he teased, "I can help you with that. I can be rather distracting when I want to be."

Instead of smiling or laughing, Marie frowned and pulled her hands out of reach. "Don't do that, Logan."

"Don't do what?" he asked, honestly confused.

"Flirt with me."

Now it was his turn to frown. "Why the hell not?"

"It's not…" she trailed off for a moment and gestured vaguely between them. "That's not how we are."

"It's how we can be," he countered. "How I want us to be. This isn't idle flirting for the sake of it, Marie. You can trust in that."

Marie shook her head. "I'm not saying I think it's idle flirting, Logan. But you've been gone a long time and things have changed. We need to get to know each other again. Even then, I'm not sure we should be together."

Logan's heart squeezed painfully, an even crueler blow after the elation he'd so recently been allowed to bask in. "What? Why?"

"You're very important to me, Logan, I won't deny that. And I know you care about me, but I think wanting to be with me is you confusing that care with the way you felt about…" Marie flinched and stopped talking suddenly. A second later she sighed heavily. "We need to finish this conversation, and we will, but Xavier just summoned me."

When she stood, he did too, grabbing her arm, "Marie, we need to finish this _now_. Chuck can wait."

Marie shrugged him off, her voice rising in agitation, "Maybe he could, but I don't want to have to deal with this right before I'm stuck in a room with the world's most powerful psychic. Some things should be private."

"Then when?" he asked, putting enough firmness in his voice to let her know it was more of a demand than a request.

"Tonight," she said after a brief hesitation. "Come to the service entrance of Darkholme after you've had dinner. I don't have any groceries, so I can't feed you."

"I'll bring takeout, since I'm guessing you're not staying here for dinner."

"Fine," Marie agreed. "Anytime after seven."

"I'll be there _at_ seven," he called after her as she went into the School.

Despite the wrong turn their conversation had taken when it came to what he felt for her and what he wanted them to have together, Logan felt lighter knowing they were finally going to really talk about things. It had seemed for a moment like she had been inferring that he had feelings for someone else, but that was ridiculous. She had him in her head, she had to know there was no one else… even if at the point in time she'd absorbed him he hadn't fully realized his feelings for _her_. He certainly hadn't had them for anyone else. Once he had the full picture, he would do whatever it took to work out the unknown issue that was standing in their way.

_**To be continued…**_

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**Author's Note****:** Don't worry, they will talk more next chapter… but not before something else happens that puts another spin on the action/plot of the story. I hope you guys will enjoy what's in store!


	32. Chapter 32

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** As noted at the end of the last chapter, this one is another turning point in the plot of the story. It's also a bit of a monster. I wasn't actually able to get Logan and Marie's talk in here, but I figured it was better to have it be the main focus of the next chapter than to try to shove a truncated version onto the end of this chapter. Enjoy!

Oh, I guess I should add that there's a language warning (as in cursing) on this chapter. Also brief verbal references to sex (no actual sex though).

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Even though she had known to expect him, Storm still jumped when Remy walked into the kitchen. She wasn't quite sure what it was about him that flustered her so. He was far from the first man to show an interest in her. And though it had been some time since she had been involved with someone, being out of practice at the game of male-female interaction didn't quite explain how deeply he could affect her.

She had been the one to recruit Remy LeBeau for the Professor, so she had seen him in his natural setting in his hometown of New Orleans. She had no illusions about him. He was a thief and a gambler, a complete reprobate (not that being a thief when you _had to be_ wasn't understandable, but he wasn't a street urchin from a small African country… he had choices). But, to be fair, he had also been willing to put his life in considerable danger to spy on Magneto's followers for Xavier.

Being the only one of the X-Men to know his true role within the Brotherhood had made dealing with his flirting an interesting endeavor. He flirted with anyone with two X chromosomes as far as she could tell (even when they were the "enemy"), but she didn't think it was ego to say that his flirting with her had always had an additional edge to it. But that didn't mean it was safe to take him seriously.

Storm wasn't sure how she was going to handle living in the same building. She'd been able to keep relatively calm about it by reminding herself that it was only temporary; she would only have to deal with it until they had enough information to send Remy into the midst of Magneto's Acolytes. But she was beginning to doubt that would continue to be enough… and he'd only been here since the previous evening. His limited time in their presence seemed to have caused him to step up his interest.

Storm dragged her mind back into the present. She needed her wits about her to deal with the subject of her thoughts. Speak of the devil…

Remy walked right into her personal space, his red on black eyes flicking between her eyes and her lips. "You want Remy?"

The three words were a mix of question and statement and fairly dripped with innuendo, his accent and speech patterns making it much more difficult to call him on it. So she didn't. Letting him know that he had the power to fluster her was nowhere near being a good idea.

"I spoke with my sister again," she told him. "The situation near her village has become volatile, so we're going to have to land several miles away, camp overnight and then hike in first thing in the morning."

"We?" he echoed. "Remy thought this was a drop off."

"It was. But I have more information now. I will be picking up my niece to bring her here, not staying for a visit. If it is an inconvenience, I can go alone or ask Kurt to…"

He interrupted before she could finish the thought, stepping impossibly closer, "You never an inconvenience, Stormy. Remy take you."

There was no ignoring the double meaning this time, and Storm could not hide the dusky blush that tinged her cheeks. Remy lifted one hand and lightly ran his knuckles over her warm flesh, a surprisingly tender expression replacing his normal cockiness. His lips parted, and he leaned toward her, his gaze now locked on her mouth. Storm fought the urge to close her eyes but couldn't bring herself to push him away.

Who knew what might have happened if a member of the domestic staff hadn't come into the kitchen just then, interrupting the moment. Without saying anything to the man she'd be trapped in the Blackbird with for the better part of a day, Storm left the room to finish her preparations for the trip.

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Rogue spent the few minutes it took to make her way to Xavier's office making sure all her mental walls were in place and calming herself externally. To her, showing him weakness, especially emotional weakness, was as bad as letting Magneto see her fear. Both men were master manipulators, and while Xavier might have the greater good as the basis for his decisions, they were still _his_ decisions.

Things with the X-Men were done his way or not at all. That, as much as her dislike for Jean and her need to not just be one of many, had made staying an impossibility. She wasn't a blind follower. She'd been too independent for that even before her absorption of the two Alpha males currently in residence in her head. The events that had resulted from her memory and power being suppressed had also temporarily repressed some of her spirit, but she had mostly recovered. She had been fairly complacent since they'd gotten back from Alkali Lake, but it was getting to her too much now. It was why she had tried to leave the situation.

Whatever had kept Xavier from exposing her secrets to Logan thus far was sure to be part of some plan. The same plan that kept him drawing her back in to the business of the school when she knew perfectly well he had people he could call on that knew more about it than she did. Though it had been nice to feel needed for a little while, Rogue was determined not to let whatever he had planned get to her. She hoped whatever that it was, it would come and go quickly. And that it wouldn't get in the way of putting her life back together.

By the time she got to Xavier's door and knocked, she was feeling at least slightly more even and was confident that she was successfully hiding what she hadn't been able to let go.

"Come in." Xavier's voice reached her easily despite the thick wooden door.

Rogue walked in and closed the door behind her. She wasn't sure if Xavier was going to be discussing anything confidential or personal with her, and she'd rather not have her business making the rounds of the School's gossiping student body. She sat when he gestured to the chair in front of his desk. Xavier was reading through a document that lay in an open file folder in front of him, so she waited silently for him to finish. Scrawling his name on the last page minutes later, he closed the folder and slid it to one side where it became part of a stack. No doubt busy work for her.

"It's good to have you back, Rogue."

She nearly rolled her eyes at that. "I've been gone less than four hours."

Xavier didn't even look embarrassed at having been caught out. "Yes, well, regardless of how long or short a time you are away from the School you are always welcome."

Rogue wasn't willing to thank him for that, so she simply smiled professionally. It was something she'd learned while working with Emma to learn how to make an impression on the Hellfire Club. Xavier faltered for a moment before returning the smile with one of his own.

"So, what I need today is for you to…"

Xavier's voice faded at the same time that her vision did. Whether he had stopped talking or she just couldn't hear him anymore was impossible to tell.

Her head started to hurt just as the power of the Phoenix flared to life in front of her mind's eye, causing her to flinch back in remembered pain. Shock was her primary reaction when she began to see images of Jean Grey. The first showed the older woman blasting free of the water that everyone had believed to be her grave, quite literally destroying Scott moments later. Then she was wandering through the woods, a blank expression on her face. The next images gave the impression of being some time later and featured Sebastian Shaw introducing Jean, whom he called Jeanette, as the new Black Queen. It was the last part of the vision… that showed she and Magneto working together to trap Jean, empowered by the Phoenix in a stunning visual display of psionic fire, in some kind of metal bubble… that sent an uneasy feeling down her spine.

"What just happened, Rogue?" she heard Xavier ask when the visual assault ended.

"Vision… Destiny," Rogue gasped when she was freed from her foster mother's power, automatically swiping under her nose. It would be much later when she realized there had been no blood to wipe away this time and her physical sight had come back almost immediately. "Jean's alive! The Phoenix must have protected her…"

Rogue trailed off when she noticed the odd frown creasing Xavier's forehead. Dread rose inside her. This was not the way he should be reacting to welcome news… to _news_ at all.

"You knew."

It wasn't a question, but Xavier nodded in response.

"Why haven't you told everyone? Scott…"

"They do not need to know yet," Xavier cut her off. "And you are not going to tell anyone."

Rogue made a disbelieving noise. "Of course I am! I'm not going to let them all grieve, to plan a funeral, for someone who isn't really dead."

"No," Xavier's voice became oddly deeper, reverberating in a strange way that caused a tendril of fear to curl around her throat just before her whole body went numb. "You _will not_ tell anyone."

It was only when she opened her mouth to once more refute his declaration and blinding pain… much worse than the consequences of Destiny's power… ripped through her head that she realized just what the oddity meant. He had used his darker power on her to make sure she didn't share what she knew. _Mind control_. The thing he refused to put to use to see his ideals become reality; the thing he had failed to use to keep her safe from Magneto during that long ago confrontation at the train station. And he was using it now. To keep her from sharing hope with the people who had loved Jean as much as she had believed he did.

_Why??_

"It must be this way," Xavier said. "If the others know that she is alive, they will want to find her, save her. But the Phoenix is too strong. We must wait until Jean has regained control before we attempt to approach her, or the consequences could be devastating."

Obviously he'd not been privy to the actual contents of her vision if he didn't know she already knew that from what she'd observed happening to Scott. That, at least, was a relief. It meant her mental walls had stayed up. Rogue tried to point out that anyone else who approached Jean would likely be killed by the Phoenix, no matter who they were, but her agony increased and no words came out. Apparently she couldn't even discuss the topic with _him_.

"Now, once you have calmed down we can deal with the business at hand."

Rogue breathed through her pain, pushing it back enough to address the man in front of her in a snarl. "If you think I'm going to have anything to do with you after what you just did to me, you're an even bigger fool than Magneto accuses you of being."

"Despite what you might believe because of what has just occurred, I do not think your aspirations for the future are all that different from mine," Xavier remarked. "I think you are smart enough to know that joining the mutant supremacists in retaliation would be a severe error in judgment. But even if your anger blinds you to common sense in other ways, do not make the mistake of thinking that just because of your tenuous connection with Mystique, Magneto would truly make you welcome among his followers. Erik knows better than to trust someone who he has previously tried to kill. He might let you join him, but it would only be to use you again."

Getting a lecture from someone who had moments before violated her free will made Rogue so mad she felt sick, but he had also given her one thing from which to take comfort. He had been speaking with such conviction that she knew as far as he was concerned, he'd been telling the truth. Which meant he did not know of her blood relation to Mystique and Magneto, something she had feared when she'd remembered Wanda once telling her that Xavier had known about she and Pietro before Magneto had.

Realizing that she had been shaking her head in the negative since just after Xavier had started his little speech, Rogue lurched to her feet and out of the office. She stumbled through the halls and out of the building more through instinct than anything else. She exited through the back of the school, running now that she was less likely to be noticed. She didn't stop moving until she'd reached the un-landscaped wooded area beyond the lawn, falling to her knees on a bed of dirt, twigs and decaying leaves.

Moments later, she jerked away from a sudden touch… until she heard Scott's voice through her pain and realized it was him reaching out to her. What words he was saying, she didn't know, couldn't distinguish them through the fire in her mind. But when he offered comfort, wrapping his arms around her, she seized the opportunity.

She opened her mouth to try to tell him her real name… she should have told him a long time ago with all he'd done for her, never asking for anything of consequence in return… but whatever block Xavier had forced into her head must have been still in effect from her earlier desire to tell Scott the truth about Jean. The words wouldn't form and her vision went red with pain again. Scott seemed to realize she couldn't speak, because a moment later he was soothing her mentally instead of out loud.

I've got you, Rogue.

_She wants you to know her name is Marie_, Erik projected through her connection with Scott.

Rogue stilled, shocked he had been able to do that. 'If he can talk to Scott, he can tell Scott the truth!'

There's no need, Scott rebutted the thought. The Professor didn't realize you had an active connection open with Piotr and myself. We saw the vision before he was able to put the mind block in place. Piotr would be out here with us but I had a free period and he didn't. I can't believe the Professor would hide Jean being alive from me… but until we figure out what's going on, it's best he doesn't know that Piotr and I know.

With that horrible weight lifted, Rogue was able to relax a bit, loosening her hold on Scott enough so that she wasn't in danger of bruising him. Whether he knew through the link that she needed a little more time or he was just dealing with his own feelings about the unexpected revelation, Scott continued to hold her comfortingly, rocking them both slightly.

"What are you going to do?" she asked when she started to feel more capable of speaking.

Her voice came out rough and hoarse, making it sound as if she had been screaming for hours on end or was just recovering from laryngitis. Rogue had considered making it "we" instead of "you" since she knew she would help Scott with whatever he decided. But she also knew no matter what he chose, she was going to have plenty of actions she'd have to take without him. Now that she knew the Hellfire Club was going to be an important part of future events, she was going to have to hold back when she confronted Emma about her deception… _and_ it was now going to be imperative that she join the Inner Circle, where before it had been a favor to the telepathic blonde for her previous help and something of a whim to see if she could pull off .

"I don't know." Scott shook his head, inadvertently ruffling her hair a bit as his chin skimmed her scalp. "This is… the Professor has been like a father to me for more than half of my life. I believe in his cause, and I've always followed his decisions without question. Until I know why he's… I can't confront him about it, not when he took such drastic action against you over it. But he was right about one thing; I can't confront her while the Phoenix is in charge. We've seen where that will lead. Whatever I do, it will have to be with you. And in secret."

"Are you sure you want to risk it?"

"I can't _not_."

Rogue pulled back enough to look directly at him. What she had to say would be hard to hear, and she wanted to be able to apologize immediately if he took it the wrong way. But the subject of Jean at all seemed to be off-limits, and she leaned more heavily against Scott when a wave of nausea accompanied the resurgence of pain. She was able to fight back the urge to be sick, then relied once more on the version of her father that was trapped in her head to pass along information.

_Marie wants you to be sure you want to risk your life going after Jean Grey when she wasn't faithful to you_, Erik informed Scott bluntly… quite a bit more bluntly than Rogue had wanted him to.

Scott reared back. "What?" After a few seconds he sighed. "I'm guessing something happened before you reached Alkali Lake… Tell me. I thought we were going to go over everything in our meeting this afternoon, but if Xavier's keeping this from me, who knows what else he'll keep to himself."

Through a combination of the Erik in her mind and tapping into Hannah's ability, Rogue told (and showed) Scott her view of all the events leading up to the confrontation at Stryker's base. It was a lot to share in the limited time they had, and they had to put off talking about it… and what they needed to do about everything… when it was time for Scott to go in before anyone missed him. Scott walked Rogue around the School to the garage, promising as he saw her off to contact her as soon as he could without it causing suspicion from Xavier.

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Facing one of the large windows in his office but staring into space rather than at the view, Xavier sighed. Though lunch was not as formal an event as dinner, he usually spent it with the students in the main dining hall. And the recent troubles made it even more necessary that he put in an appearance, show the students that though some things had changed, others remained constant, supportive. But he wasn't sure he could face food at the moment.

His guilt over what he'd done to Rogue nearly an hour before was tying his stomach into knots he wasn't sure would ever ease. Mind control was something he hated to use. It went against everything he believed, everything he fought so hard to make the X-Men stand for. He'd lost more than one potential team member with his unwillingness to compromise on the subject. The last time he'd truly used it had been to put his stepbrother out of action when it had appeared the X-Men were all going to fall to him. Before that, he hadn't used it since he'd realized what that aspect of his power really was.

But he truly felt he'd had no choice today. The knowledge Rogue had somehow received from her deceased foster mother was dangerous, and she had made it clear there would be no talking her out of sharing that information. If it were common knowledge that Jean was still alive… and despite what Rogue now thought, he hadn't been one hundred percent sure until she'd said it… everything would fall apart. Normally he would be willing to spend hours conversing with and reading someone in an attempt to reason with them. Unfortunately, the fact that Rogue could keep him from reading her mind meant that he didn't have that luxury when it came to dealing with her.

Despite how close she had gotten to him, Rogue did not truly know Scott. Not the way Xavier did. If there was even the slightest chance that Jean was among the living, Scott would stop at nothing to find her immediately. No one would be able to talk him out of it. And Xavier knew from previous brief brushes he'd had with the personality that called itself the Phoenix that she would see Scott as a serious weakness of Jean's. She would kill him, and that would mean that even if they found a way to allow Jean to be the one in charge again, they would lose her. The guilt would be too devastating.

Jean and Scott were the backbone of the X-Men. Xavier truly felt that losing both of them would destroy the team, and his dreams, forever. So there was no other option. He had to give Jean time to recover and reassert herself.

It was just a shame saving his current team meant Rogue would never be joining them.

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Logan flattened himself against the wall and clamped his jaw shut to keep from cursing colorfully. He'd almost been run down by a gaggle of running kids turning a corner. Evidently he'd picked a really bad time to cut through the main halls on the way to the elevator that would take him to the lower level and the Danger Room. When it was safe to move, he pried himself away from the wall and stalked down the hall, glowering at the students that were moving at a reasonable pace. Last thing he needed was to have them all thinking the mighty Wolverine was a pushover just because he'd moved out of the way of rushing rug rats.

Minutes later he got stuck behind a group of older students walking sedately in the same direction he was heading. He recognized all five of them instantly, half-listening to their conversation out of a combination of boredom and intelligence gathering. He found it more useful, and less work, to eavesdrop instead of asking a bunch of questions. People were also less likely to lie to you if they weren't actually talking _to you_.

"Do you think today's meeting will have something to do with having a memorial service for Dr. Grey?" Bobby was asking.

"I don't know," Jubilee replied. "You'd think the Professor would have already said something if there was going to be one. Ya know, made a school announcement. You think Rogue'll go if there is?"

Kitty shrugged, her ponytail swinging as she walked.

"Maybe if Mr. Summers asks her to," Decipher said, "but everyone knows Rogue and Dr. Grey weren't friends."

His sister nodded agreement and added, "I still remember how mad Rogue got when Dr. Grey tried to take Hannah away from her."

Logan frowned at the unfamiliar name but lost whatever opportunity there may have been to find out more when the clump of teenagers moved down a different hall and out of hearing range. He knew he should probably wait and ask Marie about it, but there were so many other things they needed to discuss that he thought it might be worth it to get this information from an indirect source. He headed for the high traffic areas of the school to find someone to ask, coming across a source minutes later.

"You seem to know more than your fair share of things inside this school and out," he growled when he ended up in the kitchen with Remy and Scott, aiming his comment at the man he knew less about.

Though now that he thought about it, that wasn't exactly saying much. He and Scott weren't about to sit down and have a heart-to-heart, and they certainly hadn't before this.

"Oui," Remy answered, his red on black eyes watching the Wolverine warily.

"Who's Hannah?"

A soft look stole over the Cajun's face, and he answered quietly, "Rogue's enfant cheri. The little one pass away many months ago."

Being Canadian, Logan knew a little more than a handful of French, and his jaw hung open, unable to form words, as the other man slipped silently out of the room. Rogue's _beloved child_? Marie'd had a kid?!? Who with? And what had happened to the baby girl?

"Logan," Scott said in a sharp tone that made Logan think it wasn't the first time he'd said it.

"What?" Logan grunted.

Scott indicated the doorway Remy had left through with a jerk of his thumb, showing no outward sign of offense at Logan's harsh tone. "Gambit doesn't like you sniffing around Rogue so he deliberately left off some things you should know."

"You know who the father was?" Logan growled.

The wild thought that maybe it had been Scott's baby was dismissed as soon as it popped into his head. It was just his jealously at their closeness talking. Scooter was too much of a tight ass to have ever cheated on Jean. Besides which, Marie was even closer to Piotr than she was to Scott. If anyone had… _no_, he wouldn't think about that right now.

"No," Scott shook his head, "but Rogue didn't either." Before Logan could take _that_ the wrong way, Scott pressed on. "Hannah was rescued from a lab, and Rogue adopted her. She was around six or so, I forget her exact age, but she had terminal cancer. Rogue only had her for a little over a week and it was more than a year ago. There's a picture of Hannah on one of the walls at Darkholme that Piotr painted for Rogue."

The sick feeling in the pit of Logan's stomach eased, but some of the tension remained. He wondered if Rogue had taken Hannah's memories, getting even more images of labs than she'd had before. Rogue had a big heart, it was one of the reasons he loved her, so it didn't surprise him that she had adopted someone who wouldn't even be around long. She didn't deserve to suffer for it, though. Now that Scott had mentioned it, he remembered seeing the portrait on the wall, but he hadn't read the accompanying plaque.

"Besides," Scott added, "the fact that Rogue's system of taking only certain aspects when she touches someone only lasts a maximum of fifteen minutes would mean only Piotr could give her children without slipping into a very long coma. He's the only one I know of who is immune to her touch."

His stomach twisted even more than before at the knowledge that there was someone other than him who could touch Marie… and for far longer than he could.

"Fifteen minutes can be more than long enough," Logan couldn't resist arguing with Scott just for the sake of finding his balance in something normal.

He put aside his curiosity over Scott knowing what Marie had said he didn't have the full details of in favor of the same thing. He supposed Scott could simply be more observant than Marie gave him credit for… there had to be an actual reason Xavier had made the man team leader of the X-Men.

Scott shot him a disgusted look. "Maybe technically, but Rogue isn't the kind of girl who would settle for that. And Logan, I really didn't need to know how inconsiderate you are of your sexual partners."

"Fuck off! That's not what I meant and you know it."

The younger, visored man shrugged in a way that showed he didn't care either way, and said, "If you're thinking that maybe someday it could be you she chooses, you should know now that you'll be wasting your time."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You may be one of the most important people in the world to her, but Rogue will never be with you that way."

Logan unclenched his jaw enough to hiss, "Did _she_ tell you that or are you pulling this information out from around the stick in your ass?"

Scott had the nerve to look amused at the insult. "Rogue told me. Though I suppose I can call her Marie right now since we're the only two in here and she told me you already know."

Logan wasn't sure what hurt more. That he had been wrong in judging how strongly Marie felt about not being with him, or that the one thing he had known about her that no one else did was now fairly common knowledge. It was what he had to assume if _Scott_ knew.

"You just said I'm one of the most important people to her, and I know she wants me…" Logan tried to counter.

"I never said otherwise," Scott acknowledged. "No one can help who they find attractive. But Marie could never truly trust someone who would kiss another man's fiancée. And she wouldn't give herself to someone she didn't trust."

Logan's mouth dropped open. So Marie had seen them that night. Either that or Mystique had seen and Marie had gotten the knowledge when she'd touched the shapeshifter to be able to go into Stryker's base with the information necessary to the mission. Logan realized with a sick feeling that it probably meant Marie also knew about what had happened in his tent. It actually made a lot of things make more sense. He had assumed it was the mission that had made her act strange while they were at Alkali Lake and had been confused when she'd implied he had feelings for someone else. Now he knew the two things were connected. He had some explaining to do… and then he could only hope she would forgive him and give him another shot.

Before he even had a chance to consider apologizing to Scott, the other man continued, "Jean was worried about me and curious about you. Marie told me Jean pulled away and turned you down, so I don't really care to know more about it from you."

Logan inclined his head briefly to show he understood. He had no intention of destroying Scott's perfect image of the woman he'd loved and lost by telling him how little of it had actually been Logan's fault.

"If _you_ can forgive me…"

Scott shook his head, "You didn't betray _me_, Logan. I never trusted you in the first place. What you did hurt Marie a hell of a lot more than it hurt me. If Jean were… I'd be having it out with her, not you."

Logan avoided looking at the other man, not having a response to that. He at least _had_ a chance to clear things up with Marie. Scott would never get the opportunity with Jean. And maybe that was at least partially his fault. If he'd paid more attention to his instincts and what they'd been telling him about Jean not having her head entirely in the mission, maybe he could have found a way to convince the others to make _her_ stay in the jet with Bobby and John. Except for getting Scott back, which he was sure he or Marie could have accomplished without _too_ much trouble, Jean hadn't actually done much.

Instead, his focus had been too narrowed. On Marie and the presence of Magneto and Mystique. Not that his focus would ever really leave Marie… but he had limited his worry to what affected _him_. He would be the first to admit that he was basically a selfish person. Well, he preferred self-possessed, but he was who he was and he made no apologies for it. But if he hadn't been, if he'd been able to put that aside when so many lives had been at stake, maybe things would have turned out differently. And if Jean were alive, Scott _could_ take her to task over it and the truth would have come out.

Scott sighed, and Logan turned his head to watch the other man run a hand through his hair, the brown locks falling back in almost the exact same place they'd been. Evidently even his hair was disciplined.

"Look, I really don't feel like talking to you anymore," Scott said, grabbing a paper plate off the counter that contained a sandwich and what passed for a salad in the School's cafeteria. "I'll see you in a few hours at the meeting."

Logan watched the X-Men's team leader leave with a deep frown. Now he really needed an extended session in the Danger Room. He'd have to play with the program that made the holographic enemies look like real people. There were more than a couple that he really needed to sink his claws into right now.

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Mystique sat idly, drumming Senator Kelly's fingers on the surface of his desk. She… or rather _he_… was supposed to be looking over a bill the junior senator from Kelly's state wanted to submit, but she couldn't concentrate. It had been several hours since Magneto had hung up on her, and he had not called her back. Which meant he wouldn't. At least, not until he needed her for something. She wasn't about to call him again either. Things would just have to play out on their own.

But knowing that didn't make her agitation any easier to deal with. She wanted to be _doing something_… not just sitting and pretending. There had been covers she'd kept longer, and she knew there were very good reasons to keep the charade going, but she wasn't sure she had the luxury of waiting months before attempting to repair her relationship with Marie. Only the fact that her daughter understood why she was doing it had kept her from truly considering risking the freedom and lives of her fellow mutants by blowing off the rest of Kelly's term of office. As long as Marie approved of what she was doing, her hope that making it up with Marie could wait felt legitimate. But that excuse was placating her less and less as time went on.

Sighing through her borrowed nose, Mystique focused on the document in front of her. It was a similar bill to one a Senator from Kansas had been supporting a year ago. The last bill had died when the elderly politician had. Mystique jerked completely upright in her seat.

That was it! Leaving office would be too suspicious, as would simply disappearing. But if Kelly died… preferably of natural causes… there would be no questioning of his changed politics. And no more need to be where she didn't want to be.

Taking off early on the excuse of a remembered appointment, Mystique headed to Kelly's home where she could make the necessary plans for Kelly's untimely demise.

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It was safe to say that Logan was bored from nearly the first moment Xavier started talking in that afternoon's meeting. The wheelchair-bound man was going over all the events that had led to the confrontation at Stryker's base. Logan was already familiar with most of the information, and he found the story of Storm and Jean finding Kurt to be less than captivating.

Looking around the room in which Xavier had shown him the hologram of the surface level of the Alkali Lake base two years ago, he noticed that everyone else was paying attention, though Piotr and Scott each bore slight frowns. Shrugging mentally, Logan focused on the two folders in front of him. One was red, with the word 'Acolytes' in bold type on the cover. The other one, blue in color, read 'Brotherhood.'

Having no idea who or what Acolytes were, and being more than familiar with the name Brotherhood, Logan opened the blue folder. It contained one-sheet profiles. The first was Magneto's, and he skimmed the information on the sheet, frowning slightly when he saw that under 'status' it said, 'Former leader of the Brotherhood, current leader of the Acolytes.' The frown deepened when he moved on to the next profile to find Sabretooth staring back at him. He skipped down the page to status. Sabretooth was listed as 'Mercenary, current whereabouts and affiliation unknown.'

The third one, Toad's, reported, 'Former member, presumed deceased.' The next was a tan, dark-haired man he didn't recognize. He ignored most of the information on the profile, noting only the codename Avalanche and that Avalanche had switched allegiance from the Brotherhood to the Acolytes. From the contents of this folder, there didn't seem to be much of a Brotherhood left. Logan turned the page to find that the next one contained not one but two mutants. They were the friends he had seen with Marie on more than one occasion since he'd come back. Glancing over their information, absorbing names… legal and code… and powers, he learned why they shared a page; they were twins. And their status was the most interesting yet: 'Probationary members of the Brotherhood, Magneto's children.'

Agitated, Logan flipped to the last page in the folder, the profile that of the only female involved in the Statue of Liberty incident. Not sure what he was looking for, he read her status first, 'Current, though absent, leader of the Brotherhood, posing as Senator Kelly, affiliation with the Acolytes unknown.' He moved on to the other information of the sheet.

Logan froze as he read Mystique's real name: Raven _Darkholme_. There was no way that was a coincidence when added to the presence of Magneto's children in the club that bore her name. What the hell was Marie doing working there? Being friends with those people? With her not being a member of Xavier's X-Men, there was a possibility that she simply didn't know. Was it some kind of trap?

The scrape of his chair legs on the floor startled Xavier into stopping in the middle of a sentence, but Logan was gone before anyone could even think to ask him why he was leaving.

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St. John Allerdyce leaned back in his chair before remembering that he was not just some refugee kid taking up space anymore. He was Magneto's right hand until Mystique could rejoin them, and that position meant he had to project a certain image. Sitting straighter and fiddling suggestively with his new flame-throwing device when one of the other mutants in the room looked at him speculatively, John… _Pyro_ he reminded himself firmly… smirked. The other mutant's eyes flicked away, and he congratulated himself on making the right decision.

Even if Pyro had somehow been able to live up to their high standards, he never would have been given a similar spot among the X-Men. At Xavier's School he'd had to mind his p's and q's in a way that truly rankled and had been forced to answer to a multitude of adults who treated him the same as those half his age. With Magneto, all he had to do was respect his leader and follow orders. Orders that he had absolutely no problem with so far. And though Magneto was, in his own way, as well-mannered as Xavier, he did not expect John to be anyone but himself. It was so freeing that Pyro sometimes felt skittish and jumpy, sure that something would come along to ruin things for him. It always had in the past.

The only thing he really missed about Xavier's was Bobby. Even though the other teen was often almost as much of a goody two shoes as the X-Men were, Bobby was his best friend. His first and only true friend. And he could occasionally be counted on to get into mischief and was the only person who'd always stuck by him… until, of course, Pyro had wanted to go into Stryker's base. He didn't really blame Bobby, though. He knew what it was like to feel like you finally belonged somewhere, and how much more the School had to mean to Bobby now that his parents had rejected him. He was only sorry that Bobby couldn't have found that place as an Acolyte like he had.

Thinking back to earlier that day, Pyro wondered why Magneto had asked about Rogue. So far as he'd seen, there was no machine here that Rogue could be used to power. And even if there was one somewhere, or Magneto was planning to build another, why had he needed to know everything about her that Pyro did? Whatever the reason, the older man had seemed genuinely interested in what Pyro told him. Even the little things. So Pyro had truly told him everything he knew. Every rumor that had circulated about Rogue and the Wolverine, all the different ways she had failed to live up to what everyone at the School was sure Xavier wanted for her, her friendships with people among both the X-Men and the Brotherhood, and his own observations from the time he'd spent at Darkholme and most recently on the run after the School had been attacked.

He hadn't bothered telling Magneto about the strange drawing sensation that had come from Rogue's hand on his leg, or the feeling of helplessness he'd had when he'd realized she was taking his ability from him. He was sure Magneto had felt it too, or at least something similar, when he'd touched Rogue on the Statue of Liberty. Not that he thought Magneto would ever admit to feeling any sort of weakness or fear. And it was probably a good guideline to follow. Most, if not all, of the mutants here were not the trustworthy sort by any stretch of the imagination. Any sign of true weakness and more than one of them would step in violently to take over. And for giving him the chance to truly be himself, Pyro would do anything in his power to stop anyone from doing that to Magneto.

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Rogue had just let Wanda and Pietro into Darkholme… they had their keys, but had felt more comfortable waiting for her to open the back door now that it was her home and not just their business… when a heavy knocking sounded on the front door. Frowning, Rogue moved quickly through the quiet club, aware of Wanda and Pietro trailing after her. Unsure about who could be knocking with such vigor, Rogue reached out mentally to check.

It was Logan, and he was very agitated. Rogue opened the door quickly, hoping whatever was wrong wasn't too serious. Logan stepped inside before she'd finished opening the door, slamming it shut behind him as he stepped into her personal space. His eyes raked up and down her for a second until they darted to the side, landing on her friends. Rogue's eyes widened when a growl issued from Logan's throat as he took several threatening steps in their direction. Her surprise turned to panic when his claws shot out from between his clenched knuckles.

At a mental nudge from her, Pietro picked Wanda up and zipped them around Logan to stand behind Rogue. Logan snarled and turned toward them but retracted his claws when Rogue stood in a way that showed he would have to go through her to get to them.

"Move, darlin," Logan bit out. "I don't know what lines they've been feeding ya, but they're Brotherhood."

Rogue squeezed her eyes shut at the knowledge that he'd learned at least that much. The timing was more than suspicious, but did it really matter if Xavier had done it on purpose or not? It was done, and now she had to deal with it.

"I know, Logan," she responded when she opened her eyes, keeping her voice calm in an effort to diffuse the situation. "I've always known. They're my friends. Their affiliation doesn't matter to me, just like I don't care that Piotr and Scott are members of the X-Men."

Logan's eyebrows furrowed closer together. "After what the Brotherhood did to you…"

"They had nothing to do with that," she interrupted. "Please, Logan, don't just go after them because Xavier considers them an enemy; make up your mind about them for yourself."

"I have! Haven't you ever heard the expression 'blood always tells'?" he snarled. "They're Magneto's brats; not worth my time and certainly not worthy of yours."

The color drained momentarily from Rogue's face before she gave a short, humorless bark of laughter.

Logan's frown deepened. "What the hell could you possibly find funny about this?"

With an apologetic mental message to the twins for not telling them a better way, Rogue answered aloud, "You've just given me the biggest reason you and I could never happen. You can't argue with something you yourself have made clear you feel so strongly about." She took a breath and smiled sweetly, the gesture not touching her eyes, "They're not the only _brats_ Magneto fathered. Wolverine, I'd like you to meet my half-brother and sister, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. They were lucky enough to have an innocent, human mother. I, on the other hand, am the daughter of the Master of Magnetism _and_ the most notorious shapeshifter among known mutants."

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Struck by disbelief and shock, all Logan could do was shake his head slowly, over and over. The young man and woman standing just behind Marie were also in shock, but from what he could scent of their emotions, it was a happy shock. What the _hell_ was going on?

"Just leave, Logan," Marie sighed when he didn't say anything.

"You're lying," he tried, hoping this was some bizarre mistake, that he hadn't condemned himself because of his overzealous need to protect her from everything and everyone.

Apparently that was another mistake.

Marie narrowed her eyes at him, answering, "If I was lying, you'd smell it on me, Logan."

"But…"

"No buts!" she cut him off. "Get out. Now. And don't come back, you're no longer welcome here."

Realizing from her tone and the anger coloring her scent that there was no point in arguing further, Logan turned away in defeat, intent on coming back when she'd had some time to cool off. But Marie wasn't quite finished with him yet.

"If you _ever_ threaten Wanda or Pietro again, you will find out just how much I _can_ take after my father."

Logan couldn't let that stand. He turned back toward her and said gently, "No, darlin'. No matter who he is to you, you will _never_ be anything like him. You have too good a heart for that."

Marie flinched slightly and avoided his gaze. Afraid that she wasn't going to look at him again with anything but anger and hatred, Logan turned and walked away… with the full intention of showing up at seven like he'd told Marie he would. If she hadn't calmed down enough by then to talk to him, he'd wait outside her door until she did.

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"Maybe you should go after him," Wanda suggested quietly when enough time had passed for Logan to be far enough away that he was out of even his hearing range.

Rogue looked at her in surprise, further shocked when Pietro agreed.

"He was right," her silver-haired half-brother added. "You're nothing like _our father_," the way he said those two words showed her he was still digesting the information, "but then, neither are we. Gives a lot of credence to the whole nurture versus nature argument."

A strangled laugh escaped Wanda at Pietro's observation, and she moved closer to Rogue. "I can't believe you really are our little sister."

Seconds later Rogue found herself engulfed in the twins' arms. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she allowed herself to bask in their unconditional affection. The embrace ended sooner than she thought it would, and she looked askance at Wanda.

"Logan," the other woman reminded her. "I really think you need to give him another shot. He obviously cares very deeply for you."

"You're just going to forgive what he said about the two of you?" Rogue asked.

She aimed her question at Pietro; he was usually the one more likely to hold a grudge. Especially when the insult was aimed at Wanda. That protectiveness had begun to be cast over her as well during the past year and a half, and she knew now that the truth was out, it would get even stronger.

"He loves you," Pietro said plainly. "He doesn't know us, and he was just trying to protect you after getting information that obviously surprised him."

Pietro was probably right… at least about the second part. Rogue also had to acknowledge that if she had just _told _Logan the full story, his reaction to the news about who Wanda and Pietro were related to might not have been as drastic. She had been afraid of what his reaction would be when she told him, but this was obviously a worse way for him to find out. But she had to admit, at least to herself, that part of her had wanted to punish him by withholding the tale until he confessed what had occurred between he and Jean. But now that decision had come back to bite her.

"He cares about me, but he doesn't love me," she corrected. "I'm just the convenient second choice, the one still alive."

Her siblings shared a glance before Wanda spoke again. "I think you're wrong. We've seen the way he looks at you, and we know what he's done for you in the past. But even if you _are_ right, he's too important to you to let this come between you. Talk to him. If not for him, then for you. This is going to keep eating at you until you deal with it."

Rogue hung her head. Wanda was right. Who knew if she'd be able to do what she would have to when her mind and heart were so torn. Even if she did somehow manage it, she would likely turn into someone she didn't want to be.

"Are you going to go after him?" Pietro asked, impatient as ever.

"No," Rogue answered softly. "But only because I know he wouldn't have gone back to the School yet and that he'll come back here. He'll probably come back at seven since I promised I would tell him more of what happened the last two years if he stopped by then. There's no point in searching for him."

Wanda and Pietro shared another look.

Magneto's only male heir told his youngest sister, "We'll leave at ten 'til then. You should really be alone with him for this."

Rogue nodded agreement and let the twins lead her to one of Darkholme's tables. The three siblings sat and talked until the designated time, avoiding the subject of their paternal forebear. They focused instead on lighthearted memories from their childhood… Rogue's fewer and farther between… and plans for Darkholme. Though the President's speech had not stopped all anti-mutant action, most of it had been limited to rioting in major cities. It should be safe to reopen sooner than they'd originally thought, and all three of them felt the need for at least one thing in their lives to return to normal.

_**To be continued…**_

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**Post-chapter Author's Note****:** Don't worry, I won't drag out the Remy and Storm thing like I did with Marie and Logan. I just thought it would be kinda funny to have someone other than the two of them be interrupted for once.


	33. Chapter 33

Reading Key: Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

Author's Note: My gosh, if it's not one thing, it's another. I was without the internet for a few weeks because of a stupid computer virus, then my computer crashed and I was completely without my precious technology. To make it worse, what I had of this chapter was inaccessible and I had to start completely over once I got my computer back. Luckily… for me and you people… my brother was in a generous mood and helped me over a span of two days to save what we could (lost quite a few of my documents and _all_ of my music, unfortunately) and then reformat the hard drive. Hopefully it won't die again, cuz I can't afford a new computer (this one's not even a year old!).

There have also more recently been some serious health issues that have come up in my family. You can check out my deviantArt journal (link to my page there can be found in my bio) if you want to know more about it.

In any case… Here it is: what you've all been waiting for. Enjoy!

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Logan had been fully prepared to have to camp outside the door to Darkholme for days while Marie cooled down. So he was beyond surprised when she opened the door just before he reached it, waving him inside. A quick glance around and a subtle sniff told him they were alone. Not that her being alone meant he was safe, especially if she hadn't calmed down from earlier. He had a hard time remembering that with all her powers she was more formidable than him, the feral male in him wanting to keep her protected at all times. But her anger had made it stick better.

He'd never seen her like that. She had been brave and cautiously friendly when they'd first met, but once they'd been brought to Xavier's School, she had been withdrawn and quiet. He could tell since coming back that it had been a temporary thing, and now that he knew she hadn't been living at the School, he thought he understood why. Marie had been dragged into a situation not of her choosing, and to make matters worse, it had been in an environment where she had to be cautious twenty-four seven to avoid touching anyone.

She had put on a brave front when she'd stopped him from leaving without saying goodbye, but he'd been able to smell the deception and longing on her. It had made it that much harder to leave her. After he'd come back, she had shown her strength of character time and time again, but he had never seen the fury in her until he'd managed to bungle things by threatening her half-siblings. Marie was like him in that way; once he considered someone his, whether friend or something else, he would do anything for them.

Logan returned his thoughts to the present as he watched her close the door and turn to him. They stared at each other for long, tense moments, the bag of Chinese takeout an awkward weight pulling on his hand. Logan was unsure where to start, and from the combination of hurt and anger in Marie's gaze, he had a feeling she was in the same position. How had it come to this?

"I'm sorry…" they both started at the same time.

Marie didn't wait for him to concede the floor to her. "I'm not apologizing for defending Pietro and Wanda, but I am sorry that I didn't tell you about my friendship with them sooner."

"Just your friendship with them?" he questioned, then immediately wanted to kick himself.

He was here to try to work things out with her, not pick a fight.

"Learning who they really are to me was a very recent thing," Marie replied after her lips had tensed into a straight line. "They didn't know, and that wasn't exactly the way I wanted to tell them. It was very personal information, something they had the right to know before you did. And while we're on the topic, I hope you haven't told Xavier…"

"I didn't go to the School," Logan cut in. "But why don't you want Chuck to know?"

"It's none of his business," she snapped. A second later she sighed. "Only the people closest to me know, and I want it to stay that way. If Xavier knew, Magneto would find out."

"So he doesn't know you're his daughter?" The idea was still so foreign _to him_ it was almost hard to say the words; it was hard to imagine how she felt about it.

"No."

"If it's not because of the family connection, why are you friends with people from the Brotherhood?"

Marie sighed again. "What does it matter, Logan?"

"Because you're important to me, Marie," he answered. "I want to be a part of your life, and that means knowing who you're friends with. And when I know they're part of a group that previously tried to _kill you_, I need to know why you let them in."

She closed her eyes and dipped her head for a moment. When Marie lifted her gaze, Logan could tell she was bracing herself for something.

"What _exactly_ do you want from me, Logan?"

"I want to be a part of your life," he repeated. When she scowled at him, he continued, "I told you earlier today that I want to be _with_ you. That hasn't changed."

"And I told you it wasn't going to happen."

"Why? And I want the truth this time," he demanded bluntly.

"Because I'm not Jean," she shouted. "And I'm not going to become her. Not even for you."

Logan opened his mouth to tell Marie he didn't want her to be like Jean when something struck him. She had said she wouldn't '_become_' Jean… and she still had Mystique's power. That meant for some insane reason she actually thought he might ask her to change into Jean physically. Given that she knew about what had happened with that accursed kiss, or at least thought she did, it made something else make sense. It hadn't been Mystique that had approached him…

"It was _you_ in my tent," he blurted in surprise.

Marie's expression closed off, and she crossed her arms under her chest and nodded.

"Why?"

Her eyes flicked away from his and her shoulders hunched slightly. Logan could smell her resentment and shame.

"I wanted to hurt you," she said quietly. "To make you feel even part of the pain that you made me feel." She let out a humorless bark of laughter. "You see, I am my mother's daughter."

"It didn't mean anything."

"It did to me!"

"That's not what I meant," he bit off. "The thing with Jean, it was a mistake. It wasn't supposed to happen that way."

Marie looked tired. "Fine, Logan. Whatever. That doesn't change how I feel about it, how I feel about being a replacement because she's… gone. I never actually saw the two of you together before you left, but everyone at the School talked about the two of you flirting the whole time I was there. And when you woke up, and she told you… you made it clear to her that I was nothing to you, that she was the one you were interested in. And then after you came back, mere _hours_ after treating me like I was something special, you were _kissing_ her."

"God damn it, Marie." He dropped the bag of food, stalked over to her and grabbed her arms, shaking her slightly. "You are a replacement for no one. It's _you_ I want, you I've always wanted. I thought you were too young. If I had told Jean how I felt about you, she would have told Chuck and they never would have let me near you."

"Then why…." she trailed off, her voice broken and sad.

Hurting for her and for himself, Logan lowered his head and breathed heavily in and out a few times. Trying to calm down. To find a way to explain what had really happened. He lifted his gaze to meet hers when he came to a decision.

x TDL x

"Touch me," Logan commanded firmly.

Rogue immediately shook her head. "No."

"Please, Marie," he begged. She wavered at the sincere look in his hazel eyes. "I'm just going to mess up more if I try to explain again. Take my memories, _see_ what really happened."

Shaking, she took one glove off before realizing it wouldn't work. "I don't think I have that kind of discipline when it comes to you. I was able once to concentrate on a certain type of knowledge when I touched someone I didn't know, but when I touched Mama to memorize the layout of Stryker's base, I got more than I bargained for. And I know how you feel about telepaths getting into your head without permission. This would be even worse."

He shook his head. "I've given you permission. You can take as much as you need to. I want you to know everything, anyway. The things in my past I would have liked to shield you from you already know about from when you touched me after I impaled you. There hasn't been anything since that I want to hide from you."

Rogue closed her eyes. He knew what he was asking of her, knew what it would do to him and to her. But evidently how he felt about her was important enough to go through it again. It was only his absolute belief that knowing what was in his head wouldn't drive her away that made her give in to the temptation to take what he was offering. If he was lying… which her nose was saying was not the case… or just misleading himself, it would hurt, but it would also finally let her know once and for all where she stood. If he was telling the truth… well, she had no words for how happy that could potentially make her.

She hesitated in order to offer, "I could try reading your mind. But my control over telepathy hasn't been tested that way. I've only ever really used it to maintain a psychic connection, which as far as I know is much different than looking for information in the other person's mind."

"Touch me," he said again, more gently this time.

Rogue took a shaky breath and peeled off her other glove. Tucking both into a pocket, she concentrated on only taking his memories before setting her palms on his cheeks, just above his facial hair. He didn't even flinch, staring intently into her eyes. She closed hers, needing to focus so she wouldn't slip and take more than she needed. Despite intending to take only memories, she also absorbed a bit of his personality. It was disconcerting to suddenly have two Logans in her head. But it also made it easier to sort through his memories to the ones she wasn't familiar with. Actually, she didn't do the sorting at all. He did it for her, pulling her into the astral plane of her mind to stand in the midst of the three men in her head.

Instead of jumping directly to the moment she was still half-afraid to revisit, the new Logan started with when he had left the School after she'd been saved. He showed her how Logan had been reluctant to leave her but had truly believed he was doing the best thing for her. Showed Logan going back to the life he'd had before he'd known her as a way to find his balance after the strange events they'd been through. He'd also needed to restock his cash, and he'd been putting off going to Alkali Lake. It warmed her to learn that if he had gone, he knew he would want to share what he learned there with her. The more time passed, the more he thought of her, _allowed_ himself to think about her in more and more intimate ways. By the time he'd been working on the cabin he owned in the Canadian wilderness, he was already dreaming about her being a part of his life long term.

She lived his disappointment at finding nothing at Alkali Lake, his determination to put it behind him and connect with her again. The thrill of happiness and contentment when they'd had their moment at Darkholme. It had been an excellent start to what he hoped would go as he'd imagined it would. Then the mansion had been invaded and he had been beyond worried for her. There had been a minute of distraction when Stryker had shown up, but she had been able to draw him away, and she had once more become his focus. He had been proud of the strength she had shown throughout their ordeal and even more determined to keep her safe, especially after she'd been sucked out of the Blackbird.

Rogue tried to pull back from observing when it came close to the point where she knew he and Jean had kissed. But this version of his mental self was more stubborn than the one that had been in her head the last two years; or maybe just more desperate… desperate that she see, desperate that he not lose her. Cold shock washed through her when she saw what had really happened. How Logan had been trying to snap Jean out of her self-pity and the plan had backfired on him.

She still didn't like that it had come to that, but she understood. It was ironic that Logan's worry over her safety had been what led to the actions that had hurt her so deeply. His reactions when she had gone to his tent in the guise of her mother made a lot more sense now. It _had _been her scent that had set off his physical reaction to her seduction. A pang struck her heart when she realized how much pain and doubt each of them had gone through because she hadn't just confronted him honestly. It was with fresh pain that she viewed the rest of his memories, seeing that he had been just as hurt by her refusal of him as she had been by his perceived betrayal.

It wasn't until she felt Logan's arms wrap around her tightly that she realized her physical self was giving vent to the buildup of negative emotions with a good old-fashioned crying jag that had brought her to her knees on the floor. Logan had joined her there and drawn her tightly to him, rubbing her back soothingly and crooning wordless comfort into the hair shielding her ear. Even as she released her sorrow, she reveled in the way he held her close. The way he was careful without being afraid or awkward. He more than anyone had a reason to fear her skin, having felt the full weight of its power more than once, yet he was always more concerned about how it made her feel than about his own pain. It made her love him all the more.

"Do you believe me now?" Logan asked softly when she had finished crying.

Pulling away, Rogue looked into his eyes and let him see the answer for himself. He relaxed and smiled at her. She wiped her face and stood, motioning for him to follow her over to one of the small tables along the edge of the room. Logan grabbed the bag of food and brought it with them, setting it on the table. When they were both seated again, this time more comfortably, she waited for him to continue questioning her.

"Marie, do you feel the same way about me as I do about you?"

She hesitated, glancing down at her hands folded in her lap. When she looked back up, it was to find his eyes guarded. She was sorry she had made him doubt her answer, but to have to admit her feelings out loud after so long thinking she'd never tell him was beyond difficult. Out of all the people she cared about, he had the most power to hurt her.

"I do," she breathed out. When Logan made a move to reach for her, she held up a hand, palm out. "But the information I got from you is still new. I need to adjust to it. To completely let go of what I thought was the truth."

"How long?" Logan demanded, his frustration evident.

Rogue smiled in what she hoped was a calming manner. "A couple hours."

A heavy sigh of relief escaped Logan.

"Will you tell me about the Brotherhood now?" he asked.

Rogue nodded, and then spent a minute trying to decide how to explain things.

"It's complicated," she started. "Even though I didn't know at the time who my parents were, I did end up with the Brotherhood because of a family connection."

"How so?" Logan queried before she could continue.

"Well, you remember me telling you earlier today about the foster parents who took me in after the man I believed was my father kicked me out?"

"The ones who made you forget and messed with your mutation?"

Rogue nodded again. "One of them was Mystique. She abandoned me when I was a baby and then had my connection to her erased from her memory a couple years later. Destiny, my other foster mother, was the one that later convinced her to adopt me. Then after Mystique was done dealing with the thing that had made them leave me behind, Magneto had me erased from her memory again. He knew she wouldn't agree to his plan if he didn't, and he needed her help."

"What _did_ make them leave you behind?"

"Destiny was dying. She wanted to go home, and she and Mystique had enemies in the area that would have had no problem using me to get to them. They thought I'd be safer staying."

"I would say I wish they had taken you with them so you wouldn't have been abandoned by them and then by the people who were supposed to be taking care of you, but if they had, we never would have met."

"Yeah," she agreed softly.

They were both silent for long moments before Logan prodded, "You still haven't told me what that has to do with the Brotherhood."

"I was living in New York after I left Xavier's. I'd been there for a few months when I was mugged. Mystique came to get me. She'd received a letter from Destiny…"

"I thought she was dead?" Logan interrupted.

"She is," Rogue confirmed. "But her mutation was seeing the future, and she often wrote letters to Mystique and gave them to someone else to mail out when it was time. It was one of these letters that made Mama remember that I'd lived with her and Destiny."

"Did she write any to you?"

"Just one. It was with her will. But before my mutation was suppressed, she touched me. I've had a few visions of things I needed to know, but I think I had my last one earlier today."

"What was it? Is it something I can help you with?"

"I can't tell you."

"Marie, I thought…"

"No, Logan, I _can't_ tell you. I can't tell anyone. You'll have to ask Piotr or Scott about it. Actually, it would be better to ask Piotr."

"Okay," he accepted grudgingly, motioning for her to continue.

"When Mama found me in New York she wanted to take me somewhere she knew I'd be safe. She couldn't take me with her because she was posing as Senator Kelly. The Brotherhood House was her first choice. At first I didn't want to go, but she convinced me to at least try it. Magneto was in jail, Toad's dead as far as anyone knows, and without Magneto to keep him there, Sabretooth was off doing his own thing. So no one from Liberty Island was around. And she promised that if I wasn't comfortable living there, she'd find another place for me. Piotr was living there because Magneto had been blackmailing him into being part of the Brotherhood. We became good friends rather quickly after we discovered he was immune to my touch. I was friends with Wanda by the time I convinced him to leave and join the X-Men. I became friends with everyone there, but I'm closest to Piotr, Wanda and Pietro. I didn't know until he showed up at the School that Remy had actually been spying for Xavier all along."

"What's gonna happen when Magneto calls them back into service?"

Rogue sighed. "I don't know. I don't think he'll bother with Piotr anymore, but I'm sure Remy will still be useful to him even without complete loyalty. Avalanche will probably join back up with him, if he hasn't already. He's too anti-human not to. But the twins… I don't know what they'll do. We've avoided talking about it. But even if he convinces them to join him, I know they'll never fight me."

"What if he has _their_ minds wiped?"

Rogue's eyes widened in horror at the thought. "I've never… I hope he wouldn't do that to his own children. If he does… I guess I'll be hunting Mesmero down."

"That the mutant that does the memory erase?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. When we got our memories back, we threatened him to stay away from us, but there's nothing to stop him doing it to anyone else at Magneto's bidding."

"We could go after him first," Logan suggested.

The idea brought her a huge rush of relief, but it died a quick death. With everything else going on, they didn't really have time for a hunting trip. At least, she didn't think they did. It was monumentally frustrating to not have a timeline to go with her vision. It had never happened that way before. She couldn't risk going anywhere when she didn't know if any part of what she'd seen was going to happen soon. But she couldn't really explain about that until Logan had talked to Piotr.

She shrugged loosely. "I'll tell Mama to the next time I talk to her."

Logan watched her for a few seconds longer than he usually took to move on to his next comment. "She like it when you call her that? You seem to switch back and forth a bit."

"She prefers Mama. I call her Mother when I'm mad at her, and Mystique to people who don't know who she is to me. I'm still adjusting to you knowing."

"Strange to think that when we met both of us had missing pasts."

"Even if I didn't know it at the time," Rogue agreed softly. "I'm sorry you weren't able to find more of yours."

"Thanks, darlin'. But if it's meant to happen, it will. It did for you," he squeezed the hand closest to him lightly. "We should eat before we talk any more."

Rogue smiled, knowing he was taking care of her again. Some people might find it dominating or chauvinistic, but she knew it was his way of showing her how he felt about her. The Wolverine in him was well on his way to viewing her as his mate, and it was a primal need in him to provide for her. It was something he'd only ever felt with her, and it meant as much to her as the emotions the purely Logan side of him felt. She could easily identify with it, having absorbed two ferals and retained much of that base mutation type.

"I'll get some plates and utensils from the kitchen," she said as she stood. "You want a Molson's?"

"Sure, thanks."

She gathered the necessary items quickly, including a bottle of water for herself, and returned to the table where Logan had started to unpack the food containers.

"It's not real warm anymore," he said apologetically as she sat back down.

"That's fine with me if you don't mind," Rogue responded. "I like Chinese food to be on the cold side."

Logan nodded in answer and the next few minutes were spent passing containers back and forth as they filled their plates. They ate in silence. Not hurrying, but not taking their time either. When they had finished, they took everything into the club's kitchen. Logan rinsed the dishes but left them to be cleaned while Rogue stashed the leftovers in the refrigerator. Turning off the few lights they'd used, Rogue led him upstairs.

She stopped when they reached her small living room, slightly embarrassed by the lack of furniture and the still-packed possessions scattered here and there. With everything that had happened to her during the day, she hadn't had the time to even think about getting more furniture. There was no place for them to sit. Unless they moved into the bedroom.

The Inner Logan that had been in residence for two years was all for the idea. Strangely, considering how much she knew the real Logan wanted her, the newer one was not.

When she had a moment of being contrarily offended, the newer Logan in her head told her, _As much as I want you, I want you only when you're completely ready_. _I'm fully in this, and until you decide if you are, I'm more than content to wait_.

Rogue accepted the explanation with an internal shiver. She turned her attention back to the real Logan to find him several steps away across the room, staring at one of the paintings leaning against the wall. It was of she and Hannah in the hospital bed her daughter had passed away in. When Piotr had first shown it to her, she hadn't wanted to keep it. Having a reminder of those last painful moments was unnecessary; she would never forget. But the more she had looked at it, the more she saw beyond just the moment it captured.

She saw the love she had felt for Hannah, and the love her daughter had returned. Rogue wondered if Logan could see it as he stared at the painting now. When he hesitantly raised a hand, tracing the air just over the surface of the painting… first Hannah's face and then hers… she had her answer. He was solemn when he turned to face her.

"Tell me about her," he requested gently.

Rogue sucked in a breath and released it slowly, gazing at the artwork as she began talking. "Hannah was… she was sick, dying. I had a vision shortly before Mystique was given information about the lab Hannah was being kept in. I went with the Brotherhood to help them release the captives, including Decipher and Conchita. I saved Hannah from one of the doctors working there. I… I don't know how to explain it other than I loved her immediately, but I decided to take her home with me. The X-Men showed up when we were leaving, and we told the rest of the mutants we'd freed to go with them. But Jean wanted to take Hannah too. I wouldn't let her. I had nine days with her. Just nine days. I adopted her, and I spent nearly every moment of those nine days by her side. The longest I was away from her was to deal with Sabretooth. Hannah was sweet, loving, bright, and so very young. I would have given anything for her to live longer, but…"

Logan walked over to her when she shrugged after trailing off. "She was lucky to have you for a mother. I wish I had been able to meet her."

She smiled sadly at him and changed the subject. "I don't think we've seen the last of Sabretooth. It's pretty clear he knew you from before, even if I was never able to figure out from where."

"Yeah, we had a tussle about six months after I left Xavier's. The way he talked made me think the same thing. Do you still have him in your head?"

Rogue shook her head, and then frowned. "Actually, I don't know for sure. I thought I had gotten rid of him, but I also thought I'd gotten rid of Jean. I found out that wasn't true, though it is now."

"Things get so bad between you that you fought?" Logan asked, eyebrows raised.

"No, though there were a few times when, if she had pushed just a little more, I would have. She accidentally touched me when we were getting you down to the Blackbird after you saved me on the Torch."

"We?"

"You were… you were losing blood too quickly; we didn't have time to drag you down the long way. I used Magneto's power to take the shorter, faster route."

"Nobody ever said anything to me about it," Logan frowned.

"God forbid anyone but the X-men and Xavier get credit for the rescue," Rogue muttered, then felt bad. Scott had never been like that to her, and she knew when Logan thought of the X-Men team, he thought of Scott first. "I don't know why they didn't tell you. Maybe they just didn't want you to worry about the effect of me still having part of Magneto in my head."

"Maybe," he echoed, but she could tell from his tone that it wasn't what he believed either. He was silent for several moments as his frown deepened. When he spoke, it was quietly, as if he was talking to himself instead of her. "The night before I ran into Sabretooth I had a strange dream that you were calling for me. I called the School a few days later and was told Piotr had gone to meet you somewhere. I dismissed the wording as the kid being confused, but I guess since you were already long gone by then, she was right."

"You heard me?" Rogue asked, surprised.

Logan's gaze became focused and intense. "It was real?" She nodded, but before she could elaborate, he demanded, "What the hell happened? It sounded like you had given up."

"I almost did," she said softly.

"Marie…"

Her name was infused with a great deal of sadness and a desperate plea for more information. Rogue knew she needed to tell him about what had happened with Carol Danvers and everything that confrontation had led to, and she suddenly felt tired. There was just so much he had missed. She doubted very strongly that her mutation would reverse itself for him the way it had for Hannah. Rogue had to try something else, or they'd be talking for days. She could only hope he would be willing to accept what she needed to do.

"I've been a telepath for awhile now. One of the benefits is forming connections with people I care about. I'd like to have one with you. Not just so that I can share things with you more quickly, but that is my main concern right now."

"Do you need me to do something?" Logan asked.

Rogue shrugged expressively. "If you're willing, I need you to be open to it. To me. But this isn't something to be taken lightly, Logan. I'll be able to feel what you're feeling and sense what you're thinking… and vice versa. Because I… because of how I feel about you, it will likely be a very strong connection. Once I establish it, I may not be able to undo it."

Logan's next question was deeply insightful. "Because you want it that much?"

She nodded, and Logan mirrored the action a moment later.

"I'm ready."

"Are you sure?"

She asked the question even as she sent a mental message to Piotr and Scott telling them she needed to close their connection for a short time. She had no idea what it would do to the other two men if she established a link with Logan while being openly connected to them. Preparing for it before she'd even gotten his answer reconfirmed to Rogue that his assessment had been right; she was eager for this. It was that thought more than any other that made her realize she had fully absorbed the truth about the moment between Logan and Jean. If any doubt had remained about whom Logan truly wanted, she would never have even considered accepting a psychic bond with him.

Feeling, more than hearing, his affirmative, Rogue moved closer to him. Close enough that her chest brushed his when she inhaled. The first time it happened, Logan's pupils dilated, the hazel shrinking to a ring around endless black. A pleased shiver ran down her spine when he breathed in deeply, purposefully taking in her scent. Letting her eyelids fall, she opened her mind and searched for his, almost pulling back in surprise when he opened to her immediately, warmly. Xavier and Jean had both had so much trouble skimming the surface of Logan's mind that she had expected to have at least a little difficulty forming the connection. Obviously his willingness to do this and his trust in her made all the difference in the world.

Setting aside the happiness over this discovery so she could bask in it later, Rogue turned all of her attention to the task at hand. Gently, she began pushing all of her memories of the past two years through the connection. Early on, Logan clasped her upper arms in his hands, she assumed to stabilize both of them during the unusual process. As she showed him everything that had happened to her, his hands would clench a bit each time she got hurt or went through something that had been difficult for her to deal with. She was surprised when he squeezed a little harder when he learned that she had slept with Piotr after Hannah's funeral.

The Logan in her head had understood the context of that night, and she'd always assumed the real one would be able to as well. If, after he saw everything, there were still a problem, they would have to talk about it. Perhaps, like her, he just needed to fully absorb the facts. Rogue let go of worrying about it. When she was finished, having shown him her memories all the way through early that day, she opened her eyes and waited. It seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes before Logan opened his eyes and looked at her.

"You've been through so much, darlin'," he said. "I wish I could have been there for you for all of it, but I think most of it was necessary. You're so strong, and without the tests you've been through, I'm not sure you would have ever known just how strong you are. That said, if both of them weren't already dead, I would have killed them myself."

It was easy to deduce that one of the people he was talking about was Carol. It took her a moment to count Jean as the other half of his statement. Going after the telekinetic telepath for the role she'd played in her suffering had never been more than a passing thought to Rogue, but it was only mildly surprising that Logan felt so strongly. If it had been someone other than herself, someone she cared about, that Jean had failed to help, she would have gone after her, no hesitation. Not only that, but Rogue knew Logan felt that enemies were better left destroyed and unable to regroup and retaliate. It did, however, raise interesting questions about what he would do when the time came for her to help _save_ Jean. Before she could consider getting Erik or one of the Logans in her head to ask him, the real Logan spoke again.

"I know about your last vision. I don't know why we can't just find a way to stop the Phoenix without worrying about whether it will kill Jean, but I know it's important to you, so I'll help however I can."

"Thank you, Logan."

Almost immediately after speaking, she yawned widely and wavered in place.

"You alright?" Logan asked with obvious concern.

Rogue smiled softly. "Just tired. It's been a busy day."

He smiled back and rubbed her arms soothingly.

"I think I'm going to call it a night soon," she told him. "Are you going to leave now?"

x TDL x

"Can I stay?" Logan asked, unable to keep the hope out of his voice.

He wasn't sure he could stand being away from her for that long.

She leaned toward him before blinking abruptly and shaking her head. "That's not a good idea. I only have one bed and no couch. I don't want to move too fast."

"Just to sleep," he clarified. One of the more recent memories she'd shared with him drifted through his mind. "You slept in the same bed with Piotr without a problem."

"Lo-gan," she drawled, a hint of admonishment in her tone as her cheeks pinked. "That's different; he's my best friend. I don't ache to touch _him_ every time he's near me."

He grinned, finally able to let go of the last bit of worry about Piotr's place in her life. He'd seen that she didn't have romantic feelings for the Russian in her memories, but he had still needed to hear it aloud. The connection between Marie and Piotr was just too strong to ignore, so much more real than the flirtation with Jean that had almost cost him everything. But now that he knew better what that connection meant to her and what it didn't, he would be able to take it for what it was. Despite his feelings for Marie, Piotr _did_ know his place in her life. As long as that remained true, there wouldn't be a problem between them.

Abandoning all thoughts of anyone but her, Logan captured Marie's hands via her covered wrists and set them lightly on his chest. "You never even have to ask for permission, darlin." He rumbled something that might be considered a purr when she splayed her fingers caressingly. "I don't want you to suffer."

Marie laughed. "So generous of you, Logan."

Logan fully acknowledged the light sarcasm in her words and the fact that she was aware his offer wasn't without a selfish gain. Still, he enjoyed that they were able to play now, and he was fairly sure she felt the same way. "What can I say? I'm a giver."

Although she smiled, something sad touched the light in Marie's eyes. Even though they had set aside the Jean-issue, they both knew Logan had never been one to deny his sexual appetites. And it was rare that he had lacked for willing partners. Though he hadn't been with anyone since acknowledging exactly what Marie meant to him, there had been a few women he'd had sex with when he'd returned to Canada and the fight circuit. However quickly or slowly things happened between he and Marie, Logan didn't want her changing her choice because she was afraid he might get tired of waiting and look elsewhere. He wanted it to happen when it was right, no sooner and no later.

Setting aside the banter and making sure she would know he was serious, Logan used her hair as a shield to tilt her chin up so her gaze met his. "But only with you, Marie. Always and only with you."

Her breath caught and a hope stronger than he'd ever seen before took root in her eyes, causing his chest to squeeze almost painfully.

"Always?" she echoed.

Despite what she'd said about needing time, he somehow knew that she was now asking what his ultimate intentions were; what he saw as their future once all the craziness had been dealt with. And where before her there had never been a time when commitment wasn't something to avoid at all costs, he felt no hesitation now. Any hesitation he might have felt in regards to her had died a long time ago when he hadn't just left her on the side of a snowy road in Canada. He hadn't fully realized it until much more recently, but it had been true nonetheless. Part of him thought it was too soon to be telling her how deep into this he was… intended to stay… but the rest of him had absolutely no qualms.

If she felt the same, it would be the best thing (aside from getting to know her) that had ever happened to him. If she didn't… well, better to know than not, he supposed. But like her, he had hope. He knew she loved him. He just didn't know exactly what she wanted. Or if she even _knew_ what she wanted. Marie loved him, but she had never allowed herself to think of what could happen if he returned the feeling.

She was the only one who had the power to truly hurt him, but he knew if he wanted things to continue to get better between them, he needed to be as open with her as possible. Marie had lost so many people, in one way or another. Even he had abandoned her for a time. She needed to know he wasn't going anywhere without her from now on so that _she_ could commit to what was happening between them.

"Even longer," he answered her, his voice low and intensely serious.

Marie let out a breath Logan hadn't realized she'd been holding. "I love you, Logan."

Logan sucked in a surprised gasp of air even as he drew her closer. Not that he had a lot of experience with this, but weren't those words only supposed to be said after being together for some time? Even as he had the thought, he dismissed it. What did it matter how anyone else went about this? Neither one of them was what anyone would call normal, though for his part, he wouldn't have her any other way. That she felt the emotion strong enough to tell him so soon was thrilling. He probably would have said it prior to this himself if it hadn't been for everything that had gotten in their way.

"I love you, too, Marie," he practically purred as he wrapped both arms around her.

It was only after his lips had found hers that he wondered if he had given her enough time to concentrate on only taking his powers. He wasn't feeling any pain, so he had to assume he had. Then Marie made a soft sound before slanting her lips more fully against his and he stopped thinking. Started simply feeling the rush of sensation that came from holding the woman he loved as close as he was. Tasting and breathing in how warm and willing she was. His entire body tensed briefly, more than ready to be with her in every possible way. But he got control of the more primal aspects of his feral side and concentrated on making Marie feel wanted without pressure for the moment to become more than it was.

He threaded his fingers into the hair at the back of her head, cradling her head in his palm. With his other arm he held her hips to his, resisting the urge to crush her more firmly to him. Marie was an active participant in their embrace. One hand remained on his chest, her fingers splayed over his heart. The other had slipped down to his waist, exploring his side before moving to his back to hold him. Their lips melded, parted and touched again as they learned each other in a way they'd both dreamt about. The reality left the fantasy far behind.

Logan separated his mouth from contact with hers after a few minutes, wanting to continue but knowing it would be even better to take a more leisurely pace. If simple, closed-mouth kisses moved him this much, he couldn't imagine the bliss he would feel when more happened. He dropped the hand that had been cupping the back of her neck so that it was resting on her upper back over the safety of her shirt, remembering that her control didn't always reach its full potential when it came to contact with him.

"Can I stay?" he asked again when she opened her eyes.

Her lips curved softly. "Yes."

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Rogue was awake when the phone rang early the next morning. She hadn't set an alarm, knowing she didn't have anything that required her to get up early. But she had been in the haze between sleep and being awake half an hour before when Logan had grunted into her ear, probably in response to something he was dreaming. It had been enough to fully wake her, and she had since been lying quietly in the same spot, Logan's fully clothed arms wrapped around her, his chest to her back. When the shrill sound of the phone rang out, Logan's body jerked. He breathed in sharply and then out slow and heavy, stretching against her.

"Mornin', darlin'," he murmured into her hair, pressing a kiss to the back of her head.

"Morning," she said back. "Can you let go? That's my cell phone; only a few people have the number."

Logan grunted again and rolled away from her after giving her a light squeeze. Sitting up, she reached over to pick up her new cell… she'd managed to make it into a cellular store to replace her destroyed one before going to the School after Xavier had called her yesterday… and flipped it open.

"He…" Rogue didn't even get her one word greeting out before Wanda's panic stricken voice cut her off.

"Oh God, Marie, I don't know how to… your mother's dead."

"What?" Rogue gasped, her heart squeezing painfully.

She might have been mad at Mystique, but she had _not_ wanted anything to happen to her, let alone this. Beside her, Logan sat up. His face was serious, so she knew he was listening to both sides of the conversation.

"How… how did you find this out?" she asked Wanda after Logan looped a supportive arm around her waist.

"It's on the news. Senator Kelly was found dead of a heart attack in his office this morning."

Her stomach knotted tighter right before something sparked in her mind. "That's what they're saying? That _Senator Kelly_ was found dead?"

"Yes."

Rogue heaved a sigh of relief.

Wanda heard her. "What? What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Rogue answered in what she hoped was a calming tone. "But it isn't Mama. Whenever she's seriously hurt, she always reverts to her true form. There's no way she would hold another form after death."

Wanda's shaky but relieved sigh sounded funny over the phone. "Thank God. I'm sorry I got you worked up over it."

"Don't be," Rogue instantly commanded. "Even if the news wasn't what you thought, it was still important for me to know. And if it _had_ been what you thought… well, I would have needed to know that, too."

"Yeah," her half-sister agreed softly. "What do you think she's going to do now?"

"I'm not sure. She could be on her way to the House, or she could be going to see…" Rogue trailed off, unwilling to say his name aloud when she was still coming down from an emotional roller coaster.

"Yeah," Wanda said again.

Rogue could tell from her tone that she understood. A gentle squeeze from the arm still around her showed that Logan did as well.

"I'll let you know right away if she shows up here," Wanda said following a lengthy pause.

They said their goodbyes shortly after. Once she had hung up, Rogue turned toward Logan and curled up against him, resting her head on his covered shoulder. It was so nice to have someone there to lean on when she needed it. That it was him there with her – with the things that had been coming between them cleared up – made it even better.

"Are you worried about why she did this?" he asked when some of the tension had left her body.

His arm around her, the opposite hand rubbing soothing circles on her upper back, had done a lot to calm her, but his question made a small knot form in her stomach. Mystique being safely out of the way in D.C. had meant being able to put off dealing with her mother. One of the many questions now swirling in her head was whether or not that was still going to be the case, only with a different location keeping them apart.

"Partly," she responded. "Mostly I'm nervous about where she's going to choose to go. It will certainly show what her priorities are, but I'm not sure I'm going to like the answer."

"She's a fool if she doesn't come to you."

Rogue shook her head. "Mama's a lot of things, but she's not a fool."

Logan had tensed when she called Mystique her mother, and Rogue pulled away from just enough to meet his eyes. Had he not absorbed that knowledge last night? She didn't know how that could possibly be the case. But the question he then asked made it clear that wasn't what was bothering him.

"Is she going to be upset about this?" He gestured between them.

Rogue would have laughed if it hadn't been for his serious tone. "I don't know. It wouldn't matter if she did, Logan. I'm a grown woman, and who I'm with is my choice."

Logan's lips curved slightly in appreciation of her words, but he still looked a bit concerned. "I'm not giving you up, darlin', but I don't want to add to the problems between you. She hasn't exactly been my biggest fan in the past."

"At the Statue of Liberty, you were the biggest threat to Magneto's plan, and she didn't know me from Adam. I'm afraid any animosity she showed you more recently was because she knew how much I was hurt by the… the misunderstanding with Jean." Logan hugged her, and she assured him, "I'll explain things."

He let go of her a few minutes later with obvious reluctance. "You want first shot at the bathroom?"

Rogue shook her head. "You go ahead."

When he came out twenty minutes later, showered and dressed, she was much calmer. Calm enough that she only had a moment of panic when Logan made it known that he was heading to the School.

"I need to get the rest of my stuff," he told her, seeming to sense her worry.

Rogue smiled slightly. "You're going to keep staying with me?"

"I'd like to," Logan answered. "But only if it's what you want. If living together is moving too fast for you, I can stay at a motel for awhile."

Stepping into his personal space, Rogue straightened the collar of his jacket, letting her gloved fingers linger on the warmth of his throat when she was done. "I think I'm going to like having you here."

Logan smiled. "Concentrate."

Rogue didn't have to ask what he meant by the one word command, tilting her face up when it was safe for him to touch her. He took the cue for what it was and dipped his head to brush her lips with his. Rogue leaned even closer to him, and Logan took the opportunity to rest his hands on her waist, bringing their hips into alignment. A warm, pleasant throbbing began in her veins, but Logan pulled away before she could deepen their kiss beyond the press of lips.

"Later," he growled.

She nodded agreement to the promise and watched silently as he left the apartment. Rogue didn't move until she heard him leave the club, his truck rumbling away in the direction of Xavier's School. Feeling more even than she had in a very long time despite everything she still had to worry about, Rogue set about her usual start of the day rituals. When Logan got back, she'd broach the subject of a visit to Emma Frost.

_**To be continued…**_

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Author's Second Note: Some people have been asking me to "finish" or "end" the story. Why? But seriously, Logan and Marie being together was never the big picture of the plot (thus why this story is listed as "general" and not a "romance"). I honestly don't know exactly how much longer the story is going to be, but it's not ending anytime soon. There are several plot points to tie off, and I'm not going to rush the story at this point. I've put too much into it for that.

Also, I have decided to stop using German in this fic (haven't decided about other languages as I've never had complaints about them). My German sources were apparently never right and I got a bit sick of getting reviews that were only about that, so… yeah. When I get some free time I'll go back over previous chapters and change those bits.


	34. Chapter 34

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** A bit of a shorter chapter, but up a bit quicker (which was the idea awhile back). :) It was also a logical place to end the chapter, so… yeah.

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Pyro looked up from the set of building plans Magneto had given him to study when Avalanche snorted from a few feet away. The former Brotherhood member had shown up the previous day. Pyro had been glad to see him. They weren't exactly friends, but they'd known each other from Rogue's club. He had someone to talk to now whom he knew wouldn't try to usurp his position. Avalanche had no aspirations toward leadership. Pyro focused back on the present, following the other man's line of sight to see what had caused his reaction.

A woman had entered through the front door, and one of the new recruits had rushed toward the slim figure, eager to fight her off and prove his worth in guarding their base. Pyro smirked when the figure shifted into Sabretooth, letting him know it was Mystique who had just come in. The moron who had rushed her without knowing her identity was sent flying into the wall.

"Let her through," Pyro called before any of the others could move into action.

Standing to greet her as she approached, Pyro flexed his wrists, making his new flamethrowers click on and off. It had quickly become a nervous habit, one that had replaced his opening and closing of his old lighter. Apparently Mystique realized this.

"Relax," she told him with a sneer when she drew even with him. "I'm just here to talk to him, then I'm leaving."

Pyro hadn't even consciously realized he had been anxious about being figuratively benched until she said it. He didn't say anything in response. She seemed to be in a bitchy mood… or bitchier than normal anyway… and he didn't want to risk her ire. Whether she was sticking around or not, he was smart enough to know she could make things very difficult for him.

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"I see the media coverage of your death was ill-informed," Magneto remarked without looking up at her as Mystique walked into his office. "Not that I had expected otherwise."

"Senator Kelly had long since outlived his usefulness," she replied. "I called in one of the many favors Mesmero owes me to make my departure as seamless as possible."

The grey haired man looked up at her sharply then. "Where is our friend Mesmero now?"

Mystique seated herself primly in the chair across from him. "I have no idea. Once the task was done, he apparently feared staying where I knew he could be found. Why?"

"Pietro and Wanda are proving more reticent than I'd like," Magneto said.

They stared at each other for a long minute, neither willingly to be the first to breach the subject of the likely reason behind the Maximoff twins' reluctance to join the Acolytes. Mystique ground her teeth together and tilted her chin up. She was used to waiting for his permission to talk about a touchy subject, but she'd told Pyro the truth. She had no intention of staying. At least not yet. She needed to patch things up with Marie first, to try to reach some level of understanding with her daughter so that she could continue her work without losing the younger woman forever.

"You hung up on me," she finally said.

Mystique kept the anger she'd felt at that out of her voice. She was already pushing her luck by opening with an accusatory statement.

Apparently whatever anger or surprise Magneto had felt, he'd since gotten it under control. "Unintentionally, yes."

Her eyebrows rose at the implication that he'd let his temper get the best of him. A quick tally of the items on his desk showed the presence of a new phone. It pleased her to know the information about their child had actually caused a reaction, but she was careful not to let that show either.

"Are we going to talk about it?"

Magneto narrowed his eyes. He sat back, steepling his fingers in front of him as his elbows rested on the arms of his chair.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he finally asked.

"I didn't know for sure until a little while before I called you. Rogue was the one who found out. When she was born, there was a chance she wasn't yours, and DNA testing wasn't an option. Besides which, we were both too busy with other things to have truly considered raising her… and frankly, when she wasn't born blue, I assumed she wasn't a mutant."

"Things would have turned out much differently if you hadn't been wrong," Magneto commented thoughtfully.

Mystique hummed agreement. She couldn't even begin to fathom the differences in their lives if Marie hadn't turned out to be what she was. And she didn't want to. She loved her daughter, but she knew she never would have gone along with Destiny's adoption plan if Marie had been human.

"You should have told me of the possibility immediately when you learned she was one of us."

Frowning slightly, Mystique shifted in her seat. "I didn't know she was mine until months after you were captured."

"How could that possibly be true?" Magneto demanded before she could continue. "You just told me…"

"You aren't the only one who has used Mesmero in the past," she cut him off.

"And why would you do that? If you were going to make yourself forget any of your offspring, I would think Creed's bastard would be the one you chose."

"It would be dangerous to forget him," Mystique dismissed. "With Rogue… I checked on her a few times when she was very young. The last time… I started regretting my decision to abandon her. Just not enough to give up my mission for her. So I had Mesmero remove the temptation."

"And Destiny brought her back into your life?"

Mystique nodded.

"It is too bad she did not tell you the truth then. If I had known sooner…"

"Things that have already passed cannot be changed. You're never going to be able to have any kind of close relationship with her," Mystique said baldly. "Not only did you kill her, but you hurt the man she loves."

Magneto's jaw tensed. "So what Pyro told me is true? She loves the Wolverine?"

"Yes."

Mystique wasn't sure what Magneto thought of Wolverine. Though the adamantium-clawed man was undeniably powerful, he wasn't intelligent on the level that Magneto required to treat someone as an equal… or if he was, it was too well hidden behind his feral personality. If she had to hazard a guess, she would say that Magneto was likely to lump Wolverine in with Sabretooth, Toad, Avalanche and others of their ilk. Weapons he'd rather not waste. Most of the Acolytes he wouldn't care about losing to the cause, but the stronger, more useful ones he respected for what they could do for him. Unfortunately for the cause, the Wolverine was unlikely to ever join them unless things got much worse for mutants and he lacked any other choice.

"If you try to use him to control her, it won't work."

"Perhaps not," he admitted, surprising her. "But knowing that weakness would prove invaluable if she were to decide to come after me."

Mystique blinked. "You're not going to try to convince her to join the fold?"

"Not until I need her." Magneto narrowed his eyes. "But I do need to make peace with her. At least enough so that Wanda and Pietro will cease their hesitation in joining me."

"I don't know if…"

"I _will_ find a way," he cut her off. "And you're going to help me. Or I will track down Mesmero and then find a way around whatever you threatened him with to get him to do as _I _wish."

Recognizing the threat for what it was, Mystique glared at him for a long minute before spitting out, "What do you have in mind?"

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Shaking himself out of fantasies of taking revenge on Xavier for what he'd done to Marie, Logan slid out of the cab of his truck. He had to remind himself every few seconds that he couldn't let the wheelchair-bound man know what he knew. If Xavier had gone as far as he had just because Marie had wanted to tell everyone that Jean was alive, Logan didn't want to know what the other man would do if he found out Marie had discovered a way around his harsh action to share the information with few but very key players.

A shiver skipped down his spine when he remembered Xavier's threat when he'd merely been smoking inside Cerebro. At the time he had thought it little more than a joke, but now…

Logan grunted at himself, a nonverbal pep talk to keep his focus in the present. From previous experience with the powerful psychic, Logan knew Xavier had trouble reading him. Whether it was due to the adamantium coating his skull or because of his fucked up memories, Logan wasn't sure, but he was glad for it. Xavier could only see Logan's surface thoughts, and even that was possible only when he concentrated. Hopefully it would be enough to keep Marie's secrets safe.

The School seemed unusually quiet when he entered, until he remembered that it was a weekday and the kids were likely in their morning classes or perhaps eating breakfast. Logan made his way to the room he'd been using without interruption.

It took him only a few minutes to gather the limited items he'd unpacked in the short time he'd been back. He was just about done when he heard footsteps coming his way down the hall followed by the feeling of someone watching him from the doorway. Logan turned around to find Piotr standing there.

Bristling at the challenging stare the younger man was giving him, Logan barked, "What?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Logan frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"If you become so much a part of her everyday life and then decide it's not what you want… you'll destroy her."

"Never happen," Logan growled.

"If you _do_ hurt her," Piotr said, scowling down at Logan, "I will rejoin Magneto just so I can find a way to kill you."

Logan cocked an eyebrow at Marie's best friend. "Won't happen. But if it ever did, I'd let you."

Piotr's jaw tightened and he inclined his head. "Good."

Apparently, that was enough for him, and Logan was alone in the room again. Shaking his head, Logan turned back to his bag and closed it before slinging it over his shoulder. He took one last look around the room to make sure none of his meager possessions had been left. It wasn't much, but what he did have was his and he intended to keep it that way.

Satisfied that the room no longer bore any trace of his presence, he walked out and headed for Xavier's office.

"Come in," Xavier called when he knocked.

Logan stayed just inside the doorway, wanting this conversation to be as short as possible. Xavier had a way about him of making people feel like they owed him something, and Logan really didn't want to get sucked back in to the X-Men's business.

"Just dropping in to let you know my visit here is over. Thanks for the room while I was here, but I don't need it anymore."

Xavier's eyebrows shot up. "Can I safely assume you will be found staying with Rogue?"

"Yes."

Xavier nodded slowly. "I understand wanting to move forward with your life, but we still need you here. If you feel strongly about moving away from the School, perhaps you could consider waiting until a better time. I believe, as well, that living over a bar may not be conducive to being a teacher."

Logan had to fight not to laugh at Xavier's serious tone, as if he was supposed to believe that he had some kind of responsibility to the School just because Xavier expected him to stick around. "I'm not a teacher, and I'm not a babysitter. What you need is to find some more teachers for your school, people who actually want to be here and are qualified for it."

"Logan," the bald man said in an admonishing tone, "you came to us…"

"_No_, I didn't," Logan interrupted to correct. "I was happily living my life in Canada when you brought me here. Mistakenly, at that. I only stayed because you let me believe you could actually help me find out something about my past. I didn't help you against buckethead to save the humans, I did it to save Rogue. And I only came back for _her_. This was never home, it was just another place to stay for a short time."

Xavier blinked. "I appreciate your candor, Logan, but does this mean you will not be joining us should we need you in the future?"

Logan shrugged; he wanted to say no, but if something happened that had an effect on Marie, he _would_ be involved. "It'll depend entirely on what's going on then."

"I see," Xavier replied somewhat stiffly. "If you should change your mind or should circumstances change, know that you will always have a place here."

Pretty sure that Xavier said that to everyone, Logan didn't bother responding. He also thought there was a good chance that Xavier actually believed that Jean's eventual 'return' would make him want to 'come back' to the X-Men. Considering how powerful a telepath he was, Xavier apparently couldn't even see what was right in front of his face.

Then again, he hadn't been the only one to think Logan's interest in Jean had been more than superficial. People saw what they wanted much of the time, and almost everyone at the School thought very highly of Jean. So it made sense in a way that his shallow flirting with her would be seen as so much more by them.

"See you around, Chuck," he said when he realized from the silence that Xavier was finally done.

"Goodbye, Logan."

Logan was quick to make his way back to the garage. He sighed when he entered to find Scott leaning against the driver's side door of his truck. Marie was more than worth any sort of hassle, but that didn't mean he had to like the number of times he going to hear the 'hurt her and I'll kill you' lecture. After Scott, he suspected he still had to hear from Wanda, Pietro and… if she took their relationship as calmly as Marie hoped and didn't do much worse than threaten him… Mystique. Logan didn't really think Nightcrawler was the type, despite the fact that Marie was his younger sister.

"Logan," Scott greeted when he got close enough for conversation.

Biting down on the constant urge to aggravate the other man, Logan simply responded, "Scott."

If the visored man was surprised by his relative friendliness, he didn't show it. "Tell Rogue to call me if Darkholme reopens before Sunday."

Logan blinked. "That's it? You're not going to tell me how you'll find a way to kill me if I hurt her?"

"I thought it went without saying," Scott said with a small smile. "And in either case, though I care about Rogue, there are plenty of people closer to her that would have more of a right to first shot at you."

Logan grunted. It was true, which should only be a good thing. He had no intention of it ever doing anything to make Marie that mad at him again, let alone something that would hurt her. On the off chance that he did, he would more than deserve whatever was thrown at him by the other people that cared about her.

Logan frowned when Scott suddenly flinched. He watched in confusion as Scott's whole demeanor changed. The other man's shoulders slumped and his face reflected weariness, pain and grief.

He caught Logan's frown and sighed. "The Professor's calling me. He has to believe I'm mourning for Jean, or I don't know what he'll do."

Logan swallowed hard. He knew Scott was doing this to protect Marie. "Thank you."

Scott compressed his lips, and Logan got the distinct impression he was holding back the urge to say, 'I'm not doing it for you.' Instead, the other man nodded once in acknowledgment before turning on his heel and heading inside.

Opening the driver's door of his truck, Logan threw his bag to the passenger side as he climbed in. With a last longing look at the bike in the corner of the garage that had been his only companion for two years, Logan left Xavier's School for the Gifted, fully intending never to return.

He felt lighter than he had in… well, the entirety of his memory. He couldn't even imagine how good it would feel once the situation with Jean and the Phoenix was dealt with and he and Marie had no obligations to anyone but themselves. Sure, she had more family and friends than he had claws, but Logan was optimistic that they would want her to live her own life… at least long enough for him to take her on a vacation up to the cabin. Maybe they'd go to Mississippi, too, and check on the state of the house Irene had left her. And there was always Alaska. She had never made it there, and he'd love to be able to do something for her that no one else had. They had time now… or at least they would when Marie's last vision was dealt with… and he was going to enjoy every minute of it. He would do everything in his power to make sure she did too.

_**To be continued…**_


	35. Chapter 35

**Reading Key****:** Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in _italics_. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

**Author's Note****:** Yeah, sorry for the long wait. I've got a lot going on, very little of it good. Like most others, I really need the economy to turn back around, just for starters. Also have a new German Shepherd puppy. Literally every minute not at work or sleeping is spent watching him so he doesn't tear the house apart (also some of the time I _am_ sleeping I have to watch him, lol). Anyway, hope you enjoy. By the way, the puppy's name? Logan! ;)

Thank you to all the reviewers of the previous chapter. Normally I take the time to answer each one (the signed ones anyway) to show my appreciation, but the gap between updates was so long this time that I didn't think anyone would remember what they said in their review. Never doubt that I cherish each and every one, though! If you had a question last time you really wanted answered, ask it again in your review for this chapter.

Keep in mind that most of the first two parts of this chapter happen _during_ parts of the last chapter. Should be pretty clear.

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"It's not going to work."

Magneto eyed Mystique with something approaching exasperation. They'd been discussing various methods of approaching Rogue… Mystique refused, for a reason she wouldn't give him, to tell him their daughter's real name… but the shapeshifter'd had an argument against each. This time, it was a plan to liberate a 'control collar' …a device he'd originally been planning to simply destroy along with its maker… and give it to Rogue.

"Why not?" he demanded. "She wants control. You said that's why she's been working with Emma Frost. And she wants to be able to touch, to be with the Wolverine."

He had to fight not to sneer as he said it, but he managed. At first it had been completely repellant to think of one of his blood taking the dangerous feral as a lover. But he'd given the idea some thought and was forced to concede that it might be a good thing. Wolverine was a strong mutant, nearly impossible to kill, and not anywhere near as insane as Sabretooth. If they should ever procreate, their children… _his_ grandchildren… had the potential to be immensely powerful. And Magneto knew first hand how far the man would go for the young woman in question, having seen the drama unfold less than five feet from him more than two years ago. He knew how rare a thing loyalty like that was.

"The collar is made of metal," Mystique said flatly. "No matter how much it might tempt her, she would not leave herself open to being controlled by you. She'll already be on edge enough worrying about what you might do to Wolverine; she won't purposely enhance that danger. And even if she did consider it, he would never let her."

His brows arched. "She'll take orders from him?"

"No. But she will see how much it would worry him, and that would matter even more than the danger to herself."

"Wouldn't he want her to have it? He is a very carnal creature," Magneto pointed out.

"If sex was more important to him than her safety, it would also be more important than _her_. He could get it elsewhere with little effort." Mystique gestured with her hand in a vague manner. "And anyway, touching skin is hardly a requirement of having sex if you have more than two brain cells."

Magneto nodded grudgingly and put the matter out of his mind. He was far from being a prude, but there was only so much of talking about his child's sex life that he could handle.

He leaned back in his chair. "Do _you_ have any suggestions as to how to go about this?"

Mystique pursed her lips, a wrinkle forming between her brows. "No. Not yet. Maybe it would be best to hold off on any attempts until I've been able to see her. Reconnect with her."

Magneto idly turned his wrist, causing the metallic balls on his desk to begin imitating a miniature solar system instead of swinging back and forth like a novelty pendulum toy. He and Mystique had discussed where her relationship with their daughter stood before he started running scenarios past her. And he had to agree with Mystique. If the two of them were going to convince Rogue to at least back off from her vendetta against him, it would help if she were already on a good emotional foothold with her mother. Besides, he _did_ have other plans to oversee. Rogue was not any more important to him than Pietro and Wanda, and he had put off truly getting to know them in order to attempt mutating the world leaders.

He straightened and waved dismissively. "Then go. Let me know when we can move forward or if you come up with anything plausible."

Until she did, he would kill the collar's creator and hold on to the device just in case. He would send Pyro to do it. There was absolutely no chance the boy would want to keep the collar for himself; his power was all he had.

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Rogue reopened the connection with Scott and Piotr shortly after Logan had left for the School. She wanted to let them know, without delving in too deeply to what had been so personal, that she and Logan had talked things out and were now together. She couldn't imagine that Logan would have had a warm greeting from either of them otherwise.

Are you alright? Scott immediately asked when he once more felt her in his mind.

Piotr kept silent, though Rogue could feel that he had been waiting to ask the same thing. Perhaps Scott had simply been faster in recognizing the re-established psychic link. Which made sense, given that he had more experience with the state. Or Piotr could simply be waiting for her to 'speak' first, as it were. After all, he had no way of knowing of Scott's end of her bond with the other man.

She reassured them both and shared the information she had intended to. Rogue could sense some resentment from both of them, but they assured her they were happy for her if she was truly content. Scott's history with Logan made his feelings easier to accept, and she was pretty sure Piotr was just feeling protective of her, so that made his resentment understandable as well. It would have been nice if two of the people important to her had been able to simply be happy for her, but she knew time would show them… and her… how good Logan could be to her.

Placated, the two men got back to their duties at the School. Rogue turned her attention to starting her day. After showering and getting dressed, she moved to the main room of the one bedroom apartment to start a list of the things she needed to get to make the place livable. There was a lot she needed since all of the everyday things… dishes, furniture and linens to name a few… had already been in place at the House, and she'd tossed out the secondhand stuff she'd used while living on her own in New York. Rogue knew if she didn't have a complete home to come back to each time she had to go out and deal with the monumental issues she was facing, she might break. Everyone needed a refuge, a place to unwind and feel safe.

When both of her Inner Logans tried to help her think of needed items, more often than not coming up with the same thing at the same time, Rogue took a moment to 'get rid of' the newer one… though until she had a chance to speak to Emma, she wouldn't know for sure that banishing personalities from her mind truly worked. Either they were simply stuck somewhere in her mind where she could not easily find them or they really were gone and the Phoenix had been what kept the last bit of Jean from leaving her until Alkali Lake.

Either way, it was the Logan that had been her constant companion for the past two years that she kept. She had the real life version of the newer one; two was overkill, especially now that she had a psychic bond with the real Logan. But unless she made the decision to rid herself of Erik, she needed someone to remain and balance him out, so the older mental version got to stay. Suppressing the headache that formed between her eyes during the process, Rogue got back to the task at hand.

She paused in her scribbling when first Piotr and then, after a brief conversation between Xavier and Logan, Scott each had a short confrontation with Logan. She was slightly amused by the posturing, but very proud of Logan for keeping himself in check instead of resorting to his usual response to aggression. Rogue knew he was doing it for her, for the life they were planning to build together. She just hoped he thought being with her was worth any restraints he had to put up with.

Several minutes after leaving the School, Logan tested their new psychic bond for the first time, tentatively calling her name in his mind.

Marie?

Yes, sugar? she responded gently.

You want me to get anything on the way home, darlin'? he asked.

Rogue smiled and let him feel the surge of happiness his choice of words had caused. She felt him gasp at the sensation and pulled back on it, answering, Get whatever you'd like. We're out of everything.

His amusement at her silly joke bled back to her. Why don't I just come pick you up, then? We can go out together and stock up.

Sounds good.

I'll be there in a few minutes, Logan ended their telepathic conversation.

Rogue hurriedly finishing writing her list. She didn't know if Logan would even want to do more than just the food shopping… he might find the rest boring… but she wanted to have the list ready in case he did choose to accompany her. If he didn't, she would still need to borrow his truck to bring back whatever she purchased. Her Mustang didn't have a whole lot of room, and certainly not enough to transport any type of furniture.

When she could sense Logan pulling into Darkholme's parking lot, Rogue let him know she was making her way out to him. Logan was waiting for her by the passenger door, the engine still running, when she made her way outside. Rogue smirked, knowing his position was for far more than just opening her door. Not that she minded one bit.

Rogue didn't wait for an invitation, walking straight up to him and looping her arms around his waist. He grinned down at her and put his own arms around her, one at her waist and the other just below her shoulders, his fingers playing with the ends of her ponytail. Rogue leaned into Logan's chest, releasing a contented sigh at feeling his body once more pressed to hers. A low, pleased growl rumbled through him and, by extension, her.

"Hi," she greeted quietly.

Logan's grin softened into a loving smile. "Hi."

She couldn't tell who moved first… she tilting her head up and Logan angling his down… but it didn't really matter once their lips brushed.

"Love you," he mumbled at the point of contact, causing their breaths to mingle.

"Mmhmm," she responded incoherently, wanting him to get on with increasing their contact.

Rogue felt Logan smile against her lips and almost gave in to the urge to bite his lower one in retaliation for his amusement. Until she realized from the warmth in his mind that it was actually happiness, contentment. He had read beneath her non-words to her true feelings and was basking in them like a housecat in a patch of natural light from a window. Rogue pressed her mouth to his fully before he could get to the drowsy stage. Both arms around her tightened, the hand that had been playing with her hair trapping it against the nape of her neck in a possessive grip.

Her fingers splayed so that she could be touching as much of him as possible, and they briefly convulsed and clenched tighter against him when his tongue touched her lips lightly. A tease. Feeling bold, Rogue mimicked his motion before exploring his mouth. Logan approved of her taking the lead, another rumble issuing from him. Someone wolf-whistled from across the street when the hand at her waist slid down to cup her ass. Rogue laughed, breaking their kiss. She placed a quick peck on his pouting lips and broke from his hold.

"If we don't leave now, we might never," she told him.

Logan grunted in a way that said he was okay with that idea but opened her door, shutting it firmly once she was completely inside.

"Where to, darlin'?" he asked when he'd gotten in and, after a pointed look from her, buckled his seatbelt.

Rogue shifted slightly in her seat, pulling out her list for emphasis. "That depends on you. If you want, we can just go to the supermarket in the shopping center on Fifth. Or we can hit the department stores at the mall to see about furnishing and stocking the apartment with everything we need and then the supermarket."

"The mall it is," Logan answered, throwing the truck into reverse.

"Logan, you don't have to go just because I'd like…"

"Since this is going to be our first home together, I'd like us to choose what goes in it together," Logan cut her off to tell her. "The cabin's already taken care of, and if you ever want to use the house Irene left you, you can choose how to redecorate that if you want to keep things even. Of course, you're more than welcome to change anything in the cabin you want to."

Rogue scooted closer to him on the bench seat and leaned in to place a kiss on his facial hair. "Thank you."

Logan's right hand dropped from the steering wheel to her thigh, squeezing gently. He kept it there, and they settled into a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride to the mall.

x TDL x

The day had begun an odd combination of good and bad. Waking up with Marie had been wonderful beyond words, but her being worried for her mother… even for so short a time… had cast a pall over the experience. Logan fervently hoped they could wake on their own tomorrow morning with nothing and no one intruding on their private time. Going to Xavier's, even if it had been a necessary step forward, had bothered him and served to remind him of what he had to lose, what he had come closer to losing than he could have imagined. The knowledge that there was someone there more than willing to pick up the pieces if he somehow screwed this up was not a comfort.

As far as Logan knew, he had never been with someone the way he wanted to be with Marie. And with how strongly he loved her, he doubted he could have felt this way before. Even on the off chance he had, he would never leave her by choice. As far as he was concerned, it had been someone else who had lived the life he couldn't remember. He was a different person now, had in fact been two different men in just the years since waking with no memory. Before Marie and After. Though there had been a few people who had helped him, made an impression on his life, none had touched his heart until her. He hadn't been entirely convinced he even _had_ one until he realized it was hers.

And now here they were, going shopping like any couple newly moved in together. It was domestic and peaceful, but he couldn't really tell if it didn't make him itch to get back to his old life since in the back of his mind he knew it was only a temporary peace. Logan wanted to believe he would be completely content leading whatever life Marie chose for them, but he wouldn't know for sure until everything else was out of the way. He just hoped he could keep that little bit of fearful doubt hidden from her the same way he had kept his thoughts on Piotr's feelings for her to himself. It was too soon for her to know about his concerns about his wandering nature; she would take it the wrong way. Considering she remained at his side, happy and quiet, for the whole drive, Logan was sure he had managed it… or if he hadn't, she'd also seen that if he did take up his nomadic lifestyle again, he'd be dragging her with him.

They reached the mall, and Logan maneuvered through the parking lot like it was a war zone. He tended to avoid places that had this many people in such close quarters, and seeing all the cars made him a little itchy. He found a spot that was close to the largest department store without being in a place that would have a lot of onlookers. They didn't need witnesses if he or Marie showed more strength than they should when bringing their purchases back to the truck.

The home furnishings section of the first department store they went into was their primary stop. When Marie paused, looking between each department with clear indecision, Logan reached down for her hand and tugged her toward the mattresses.

She allowed him to lead her, but gave him a confused look. "We already have a bed, Logan. Unless you don't like it?"

"It's fine," Logan assured.

If she still had the mattress she'd had sex on with Piotr, he would have tried to convince her to get a new one, but she'd gotten rid of it a few weeks after Hannah passed away because it had been the one her daughter had been sick in. Hannah's scent clinging to the mattress had caused Marie to have disconcerting dreams that often had her waking up thinking Hannah would still be there beside her. The memory of the pain it had caused her was enough to make Logan's stomach clench.

"Just thought it would be fun to try a couple out." He continued, waggling his eyebrows at her exaggeratedly.

Marie laughed and shook her head, but replied, "Sounds nice. And I've always wanted to try that one made of the material that's supposed to hug your body."

"Tempur-something or other?" Logan asked, vaguely recalling an infomercial from one of the nights that fear of his nightmares kept him from sleep.

Marie hummed an affirmative and wove through the aisles of mattresses, looking for that particular brand. "It actually seems kind of creepy to me, but it is supposed to be comfortable."

She found the bed she was looking for a minute later and climbed on, laying down on one side. Logan eyed the other side warily but couldn't resist when Marie patted the spot beside her, eyes twinkling. He sighed and lowered himself down next to her… and then kept going down, sinking into the giving material much more than she had. Her eyes widened dramatically as she watched him, the dark green orbs filling with silent laughter at about the same time he remembered that the adamantium coating his bones made him a lot heavier than he looked. Possibly a lot heavier than the bed's material had ever been tested to support. Marie scrambled off, and then pulled him from his fitted crater.

Luckily, the lone salesman in the mattress department was busy going through financing options with another couple. Logan and Marie stood next to the bed, watching until the depression on it was only as deep as a normal person would make. Marie bit her lip the whole time to keep the proverbial lid on her amusement. Looping an arm around her shoulders and walking as casually as possible, Logan led her from the mattress department to the one that had living room furniture.

There was a lot less drama as they tested couches and settled on a leather sectional that would just fit in the space available. They bought it and a coffee table. Because it was still so early in the day, Marie was able to schedule same day delivery (the sectional would not have fit in the bed of the truck). With that in mind, they went through the rest of their furniture choices… a small dining table and chairs, a TV stand, a couple lamps, a dresser and two nightstands… quickly.

Once that was done, and delivery scheduled for late in the afternoon, the two of them took their time picking out housewares and other essentials. They stuck mostly with darker blues, greens and some browns. Marie had always had a preference for the darker hues of the color spectrum, and the ones she chose reminded Logan of the woods, the wild openness that had always been one of the few things to calm him. Logan had only a certain amount of his cash on him, but Marie told him they could worry about who paid for what later and just used her credit card for everything.

He insisted on buying the food when they went to the grocery store after the mall, and he also stopped at a deli so they wouldn't have to worry about throwing together a late lunch. After bringing everything inside but only putting away the perishables, they took their time eating at one of the tables in Darkholme. Marie was done with her sandwich, Logan halfway through his second one, when she suddenly stood and moved to straddle him in his chair. He automatically dropped his hands to her hips, caressing her sides over her shirt with his thumbs. A soft smile lit her face before she kissed him gently. A small moan escaped him but he didn't try to stop her when she pulled back right away, though she did lean her forehead on his for a long minute before sitting up straight.

"What was that for?" Logan asked quietly.

Marie smiled again. "Just reminding myself that this is real. That you're really here with me."

"No place I'd rather be, darlin'."

She gave him another soft kiss before sliding off his lap. "I'll let you finish eating. I'm going to check the answering machine before I start bringing the rest of the stuff upstairs."

Logan nodded his acknowledgment and watched her walk to the door that led into the employee only section of Darkholme, his gaze focused on the sway of her hips. Turning back to his lunch when the door closed between them, he took a bigger bite than he had been. No need for something as trivial as food to keep them apart any longer than necessary.

x TDL x

Rogue wrote down the messages as they played. There was one from Pietro asking if she'd found out anything about Mystique yet, and the second one was a delivery confirmation from one of her liquor suppliers. Rogue's pen stilled when Emma's voice, tinged with the superior attitude she mostly put on around the Hellfire Club, issued from the machine.

"Rogue, I'd appreciate a call back soon. I need to know what happened with this whole situation, and we need to discuss the next Hellfire dinner. You _did _make a promise to me when I generously agreed to help train you."

A large hand possessively curving to fit her waist stopped her from jabbing the delete button hard enough to destroy the machine.

"Bitch," Logan muttered darkly. "If we didn't need her…"

"I know," Rogue said softly.

"She's going to keep making demands until she hears from you, isn't she?"

"Yes," Rogue agreed. "What do you think about just going to see her instead of calling her back?"

Logan's frown turned into an evil smirk as she faced him. Rogue mirrored his expression for a moment, but she was still too angry and worried for it to stick. Logan's hands came up to clasp her shoulders. He massaged them caressingly, but only a tiny bit of her tension fled.

"I think dealing with her will help take away at least some of the stress of waiting for everything else to fall into place. We should go do it now so we'll be back in time for the furniture delivery."

"Yeah," she agreed again. "Let's go before I change my mind."

Logan pulled his keys out of his pocket. "You wanna drive?"

"Bad idea. I might wreck it daydreaming about revenge."

Rogue shivered slightly as Logan's hands traveled down her body to rest on her hips. He gave them a light squeeze before making a request.

"Can we take your bike?"

She nodded and pulled the appropriate key from the pocket of her jeans, dropping it into his large palm. A second later, Logan was pulling her out of Darkholme and to where her Harley was parked. What seemed like a mere moment after that, they were roaring down the street in the direction of Emma's house. Rogue knew Logan had gleaned the directions from her mind through their connection, allowing her to avoid having to think about it.

Now she could concentrate on how best to make Emma pay for the lies and false hope. From all the time she'd spent working with the older woman, Rogue knew Emma's biggest fear was a loss of control of the telepathic portion of her powers. It was a common fear among telepaths based on what she'd learned during her time among the Hellfire Club as well as having had two of them in her head. And it made sense. No one liked having their minds messed with, their free will stripped away, and loss of a telepath's control inevitably led to panicked discovery by those around them.

Though there were some mutants who went public with their abilities, telepaths rarely did. Even Jean, who had been in the public eye as a doctor specializing in mutant genetics, had never revealed herself to further the cause. Neither had Xavier, despite his lofty goal of human-mutant equality, acceptance and peace.

It struck Rogue that using someone's fear against them was exactly what her parents would do, but she pushed the negative connotations of that thought aside. There was a reason to do so, after all: it worked. And really, wasn't that what fighting was? Finding your opponent's weak point and exploiting it so you came out the victor?

The Logan in her head grunted agreement as Erik soothed, _Of course, my dear_.

As they approached Emma's house, Rogue put up every mindblock she had. It wouldn't accomplish anything to let the White Queen know she was coming. And that she was beyond angry. She was thankful that Logan was safe from Emma's power as well. Emma was strong, but she was no Xavier.

Rogue, on the other hand, had his potential. And she was going to remind Emma Frost of that fact.

_**To be continued…**_


End file.
